Queen Of Thieves
by RikaKawa
Summary: A young girl attracts a famous Thief with a past. As she travels with him, she tries to figure out why he chose her over all the other girls in that town. Their traveling turns weird as they learned more and more about each other and their dark secrets.
1. Chapter 1

Queen Of Thieves

Before I start, I would like to point out that Lara is the main character. She is short, pale, has blue eyes and short black hair. And I would like to warn people ahead that there will be some mild language in this chapter.

It was night, a large city didn't sleep however. The streets were busy with excitement and fun, people near by played instruments and danced. Lara, a young seventeen year old, wasn't in a dancing mood. She pulled her hood over her face and walked into a tavern downtown. The tavern was busy as men and women ordered drinks and food. Some costumers eyed her as she walked in, she attempted to hide every part of her pale body. It was a daily task that would wear her out by the end of the day.

She walked up the bar and asked for a glass of water, the man looked at her weird but shrugged his shoulders. He turned away as she looked at everyone in the room.

A tall large man caught her eye, like she caught his. He had fluffy white, maybe silver hair. His violet eyes locked on her as he smiled wickedly. She turned away from him as the bartender placed the glass in front of her. She kept her eyes down to avoid eye contact, another daily task that wears her.

"So, were you from?" the man with the violet eyes was now standing next to her, he smiled down at her as if he had something planed.

"Around, I travel a lot" she tried not to look at him, she only looked at his hands. His fingers covered with rings. And blood.

"Ah, same, yeah its kind of nice traveling alone…sometimes" he smirked

"I never had any trouble with being alone" she shrugged her shoulders and kept her eyes on the water in her glass, she could see his reflection. He was smiling still, he scratched the back of his neck.

"Really? You're telling me you _never_ wished of having someone travel with you?" he placed his hand on her shoulder and slowly turned her body towards him.

"I'm not looking for a traveling partner, look somewhere else" she pulled away and held her glass tightly. He chuckled as he took a step forward, she took one backwards, she moved her eyes until she saw his feet and watched them closely.

Not wanting to deal with a jackass, she turned and left. Not knowing that he was following her closely from the shadows


	2. Chapter 2

Note: Yeah it's a little slow, but trust me it will pick up soon J

The night was cold as Lara made her way down the busy streets. She kept her head down and squeezed through the crowd of people, not knowing she was being followed. The wind sent a shiver down her spine, it was cold and light and then gone.

She came across an alleyway, she stood there, wondering if she should walk down it. The alleyway was dark, creepy looking, but overall, unwelcoming. She shook her head and turned her body to leave, but a faint cry stopped her. She looked into the dark alley to see a figure of a small girl, she ran into the alley crying, asking for help.

"Are you okay?" she called out to the little girl as she took a step forward, she called again, no answer. She took a few more steps until she was in the shadows. She stopped and listened carefully, she could still here the little girl crying. 

Not knowing what to do, she took a step back but was stopped by someone standing behind her, she felt large hands land hard on her shoulders, with a yelp she jumped away and turned quickly to see the same man from the bar. He was smiling again and asked,

"What are you doing in this alley?" 

"There's a little girl crying for help" she replied as she pushed her bangs out of her eyes. He smirked and said there was no girl crying,

"How do you know?" she crossed her arms and cocked a eyebrow, he smiled and said she was almost tricked by an unseen force. She shook her head,

"Prove it" she said firmly, he shrugged his shoulders and took a few steps farther into the alley, a hissing noise arose, he looked over in a corner to see red eyes. He smirked and turned to Lara who was standing close behind him. 

Before the man, the creature or whatever it was could attack, the man Lara was standing behind pulled out a knife a through it into the shadow, the thing screeched in pain and ran off into the night. 

"Told you" he looked over his shoulder and smirked, she rolled her eyes and said she normally fall for tricks like that.

"It only takes one to get you killed" he picked up the knife and stuck it away, she shrugged her shoulders and said in an unpleasant tone,

"Thank you" 

"Whatever" he smirked again and kept trying to see her eyes. 

"What's your name?" he asked as he crossed his arms, she thought about it for a moment, should she really tell him? Is it even worth it? She sighed and said her name was Lara. He introduced himself, saying his name was Bakura, that name rang a bell to her. 

She tried to remember where she heard that name before, she looked up at him and made the first eye contact. He took a step back when he realized her eyes were blue. 

"Lara, the Queen of Thieves?" he smiled wickedly at her, she nodded with confidence. She pulled her hood down and fixed her hair. 

"I thought that was you, hm, you're shorter than what people told me" he placed his hands on his hip and chuckled when she grunted in annoyance. 

"Well, it was nice meeting you, but I have to go" she took a step back but was stopped when he placed his hand on her shoulder again,

"Do you really think I'm going to let you go? After looking for you, I don't think so" he smiled and pulled her closer, she growled and tried to push him away,

"I swear to Isis, let me go Bakura, I will hurt you" she looked up at him with a snarl, she never liked being handled like that. He chuckled again and leaned down until he was at eye level with her,

"Is that how you're going to talk to your king?" 

"Ah, you're the King of Thieves, whatever, but it doesn't give you the right to grab me like this, I hate it when people do that" she pulled away and shook her head. He raised a brow and took a step forward.

"Fine, I'm sorry" he said in an unpleased tone, clearly he didn't meant it. 

Lara rolled her eyes and said he didn't meant it, he shrugged his shoulders and looked into the street. A few moments of silence passed before he turned to her and asked,

"Can I buy you dinner? Maybe we can start over on the whole first meeting thing." She pondered about it, she hasn't had anything yet and she was broke. 

"Fine, but nothing else after that." she pointed at him, she couldn't help but smile at him. The rumors she heard about him were off, a 'ruthless' man buying her dinner? Maybe she'll grow to like him if the dinner thing goes nicely.

They went to a new place and began to order… 


	3. Chapter 3

Lara kept her hood up for most of the night, people from different tables glared at her. Some turned to the person next to them and began to whispered about her…

Or…was it because they recognized Bakura?

Lara ordered a small plate of fish and lamb while Bakura pretty much bought everything on the menu. She watched in disgust as he shoved the food into his mouth and take a big gulp of beer.

With a sigh she slowly and gentle pull the meat from the bones and chewed lady-like. After he swallowed, he turned to her and asked where she was from again.

"I already told you, around" she replied unpleasantly, she never liked questions being repeated.

"Alright…well…how old are you? You look too young to be a traveler…or _the _thief_" _

She smiled at him and said she was seventeen.

His jaw dropped, than he began to smirk. He called her a pup and asked and quote "how the hell did you get into the big leagues?"

She took a mild offence to the pup but didn't complain,

"I don't know how, I just got the name about a year or two ago" she shrugged her shoulders as she reached for her glass of water.

He watched her closely and smiled, he began to want to know more about her…

"So, do you live somewhere, like a hideout or something?" he placed his elbow on the table and pushed back some of his fluffy hair.

She shook her head, she looked up at him and said she was just a traveling thief.

"And besides, never liked hideouts, so much at stake if they find you" she added with a shrug of her shoulders. He nodded and was, a little bit, impressed with her mindset. Before he could make another comment, he was caught off by two men standing behind her.

She felt two pairs of eyes on the back of her head, a shiver went down her spine as she slowly turned.

"Can we help you?" Bakura asked in an unwelcoming tone, Lara looked at him in the corner of her eye and swore his hand on his lap was in a fist.

Both of the men smiled at them one on the right was taller, he had greasy, and I mean greasy black hair that hung a little bit over his face, his front teeth was missing and it looked like he just got out of a fight.

The one on the left looked like he just took a bath. He was smiling but not nicely, to Lara, he seemed like the guy that would act nice in public, but then would be the ever living crap out of you at home. She watched him closely as he began to speak.

"How much for the girl?" he asked,

"Pardon?" Bakura tilted his head a little, making sure he heard him right.

"How much for the girl?" he asked again with the same tone. Bakura looked at her for a moment and said she wasn't for sale. The man took a step back,

"What do you mean not for sale? Do you know how much you can make off this broad?" he opened his hands and took a sigh/laugh. Bakura nodded and said,

"She's my little servant I take out to dinner when she's good" he reached over and patted her on her head. Not liking the servant idea, she played along for her safety. She smiled at Bakura and placed her hand on her arm.

"Aw come on, with the money I was going to offer you, you can buy yourself a even better looking girl"

Ouch.

Her smile quickly went away, her temper kicked in and so did the control over her mouth,

"You bastard!" she barked, she was about to stand until she saw Bakura stand first. He began to argue about insulting her and shoved the man away, The taller, less hygienic, man began to yell in Bakura's face until he was shoved away.

Lara stood when Bakura grabbed the shorter man and threw him into the table. Before she knew it, fists were flying and random people were jumping into the fight.

She pushed people off her and began to throw punches at the taller guy, he kept trying to grabbed her hands but missed or she broke away,

The shorter man was blooding and was still being beat on,

"Bakura just end it!" Lara pulled her small knife from her mini bag and stabbed the taller man in the gut, she repeated stabbing him a couple more times and watched the man fall.

Bakura stabbed the shorted man in the throat and pulled it out just as quick as he put it in. They both turned their attention to the random people trying to fight them. It only took one death of a random person before they all backed off.

Lara felt a strong grip on her wrist, before she could react she was pulled onto the street and was lead down it until she came upon a hotel.

As if she went stupor, she let whoever was holding her wrist, guide her into the hotel. Until she was laying on a soft bed that must have been filled with feathers. She moaned a little and rubbed her eye, she slowly turned to her right to see Bakura laying on his back.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"I always forget that these fights takes a lot out of me" she sighed and rubbed her swore right hand. He nodded and forced his left arm under her pillow.

She smiled a little and kept rubbing her hand as if nothing was happening. She felt herself getting tired and slowly closed her eyes. Her body felt numb but she could feel a soft blanket being pulled over her.

"Night" a distant voice said.


	4. Chapter 4

Note: Whew! Okay I'm ready to write again. I know its kind of slow but soon more characters will come in to speed it up.

Lara woke up the next feeling like hell, she looked up at the ceiling and wished she could go back to sleep, but she knew she couldn't.

Outside she could hear people talking, horses pulling wagons and kids yelling for each other, she rubbed the side of her face and moaned a little.

She sat up a few moments later, she looked down to see Bakura drooling on his pillow, she rolled her eyes and pushed the soft blanket off her. She looked around the room, trying to figure out where she was at. She heard people outside the room talking as they walked by, talking about the fight that happened last night.

She looked down at her right hand that was bruised and still red, she rubbed it softly and looked back up, outside the window she saw other buildings and part of a blue sky. She realized a moment later that she couldn't move her right hand, she looked back down at it and figure she broke it.

Lara sniffled at the sharp pain when she tried to move her figures, she looked behind her to look at Bakura, she debated on rather or not to wake him.

_Should I travel with him? He is a good body guard, hmmm…what if he wants to travel with me for the wrong reasons? Would he go through all this trouble just to sleep with me? _

Lara debated and debated, she finally decided to travel with him, manly because she wanted to get her hand fix since it was distracting her from debating.

With her left hand, she shook Bakura by his shoulder and ordered him to wake up, he grunted a little and pushed her hand away, a few moments later his eye opened to see Lara looking down at him. They both stared at each other for a few moments until Lara informed him,

"My hand is broken from last night's fight, where is the nearest hospital here?"

"How the hell should I know? I got here two nights ago" Bakura forced himself to lay on his back and sigh.

"You're big help" Lara sighed and looked down at her hand, suddenly Bakura's hand grabbed her right wrist and pulled it over for him to look out, Lara yelped and tried to pull away, only to hurt herself even more. His grip on her was strong, he examined her hand as he still laid on his back.

"Yep, its broken" he declared and released her hand.

"Wow really? I would have never had guess, you know, being my own hand and all, thanks doc!" Lara gave a fake smile at him as she carefully held her hand.

"All right smartass, why don't you find yourself a doctor while I get some sleep?" Bakura raised a brow.

"Um, no, you're coming with me" Lara stood and fixed her skirt and shirt with only her left hand. She also fixed her short black hair and shoes. Bakura growled and got out of bed a few moments later.

He pulled his blood red coat over his shoulders and waited for Lara to be done preening herself. He shifted his weight to his right side and watched her in boredom.

"Oh come on, you're going to do all this with a broken hand?" Bakura rubbed the side of his head and sighed.

"There's nothing wrong with looking nice" she glared at him as she pulled the hood over her head,

"Okay, lets go"

In the streets which was very crowed for the morning, Lara walked close to Bakura, she noticed she only came up to his elbow, she was around 4'11" while Bakura seemed to be around 6'4"

Lara kept her broken hand up to her waist and held Bakura's wrist with her left, she watched people's feet walk by as she let Bakura guide her. A few moments later they were at a small hospital.

The doctor, who was old and didn't care about the pale girl sitting on a chair with a broken hand, examined her hand and said,

"Yes I can fix it, but its going to be a long time for her hand to fully heal" the doctor looked up at Bakura who shrugged his shoulders.

"I would advise you not to lift heavy things with it" he turned to Lara who was paying close attention to him.

The doctor worked on her hand for about five minutes before he finally wrapped it.

"Now, you need to make sure your wife doesn't over work it, if so, she could permanently damage her hand" the doctor stood as he spoke to Bakura.

"I'm not his wife"

"She's not my wife"

"O? Its just I know who you two are so I just thought…" The doctor smiled and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Thanks doctor" Lara smiled at him and left the room, leaving Bakura to pay the doctor.

"Fifty dollars! Your hand cost me fifty dollars!" Bakura snarled as they walked into the streets, Lara rolled her eyes and ignored his complaining.

"Shut up and lets get out of here, I'm suppose to meet someone in the next town over" Lara looked at the horses for sale and began to talk to the owner.

"Who are you suppose to meet?" Bakura forced Lara to turn to him, he glared down at her with a hateful look on his face,

"A friend that I promised I would meet, she's having some trouble and wants me to be there for her" Lara pulled away and added,

"Don't give me that hateful look again or I'm not traveling with you"

Bakura sighed in what sounded like relief. He looked down at her as she talked to the owner of the horses, a few minutes later they bought two horses and guided them to the street.

Bakura placed his hand on Lara's butt and pushed her up onto the horse, he gave her a wicked smile and walked over to his awaiting horse. Lara tried to hide her blushing under her hood but had to look up to see where she was guiding the horse.

The two ordered the horses to take off running into the large crowed that quickly separated, the dashed passed the entrance and made their way into the large open desert, heading for a large town where awaits Lara's friend.


	5. Chapter 5

The desert was hotter than normal in the morning, the sun beamed down on the two as they rode across the sand. It got to the point where they had to stop the horses from running or they would die from thirst. They pulled them over to the only shade they found.

Lara sat on the ground and pulled her sandals off, she looked at her feet and began to rub her right foot. Bakura stood and looked around, only seeing dirt, sand and a cloud.

"How far is this city?" Bakura asked as he looked towards the north.

"Well, we've been riding for about an hour so I say…another hour before we see the buildings." Lara looked up to see his reaction,

"Do we really need to see this friend of yours?" Bakura looked over his shoulder and raised a brow, he wasn't really looking forward to help someone he didn't know, or cared for.

"Yes, she's having love-life issues, she has a very rare personality disorder" Lara nodded, she was hoping he wouldn't ask for details, since this issue her friend has was very weird and uncommon.

Bakura didn't ask anymore, he just shrugged his shoulders and continued looking at the dead land. The land went on and on, like an endless ocean of death and misery. He wondered about this girl and her issue and how this may interfere with his plan.

"Bakura, do you see something?" Lara noticed he was just standing there.

"Hm?" he looked over his shoulder "no, just nothing else to do"

"Can I ask you something?" Lara pulled down her hood, he nodded and turned his body to her,

"Out of all the girls in that city who are so much prettier and richer than I am, why do you want me to travel with you?" Lara pushed some hair out of her face and waited for him to reply. Bakura took a few moments to come up with an answer that won't back fire.

"I like to travel with outcasts, and by your pale skin I knew you would be a great partner in crime" Bakura smiled,

"Let me guess, there's a tomb near by and you need my help because of my size" Lara raised a brow.

"That's some of it, I also think we can make some money stealing from the Pharaoh in a few months" Bakura was impressed by her quick mindedness, he walked over to her and kneeled beside her.

"I've helped thieves with the tombs before, but stealing from the Pharaoh? You had me at steal" she smiled and placed her hand on his shoulder. He smiled wickedly and placed his hand on her knee.

"Doesn't mean you're going that far" she pushed his hand off and smiled evilly,

"I've dated thieves before, it never works out" she said as she put her right sandal on and began to rub her left foot.

"Yeah but you dated lowlife pick pocketing thieves, have you ever dated a guy on a higher level of thieves?" Bakura leaned close and chuckled,

"Yes actually, I dated the Fire Thief, that just went to hell very quickly" Lara pushed him away.

"What happen?" he asked as he sat next to her.

"He cheated on me so I strangled him with his own Fire Whip" Lara pushed the hair out of her face again. Bakura looked at her, studying her and wondered if it was true. Lara looked at him in the corner of her eyes and smiled,

"That's why I don't date thieves anymore, of course its hard dating innocent guys, since they look down on you for stealing. So that's why I traveled alone and remained single" Lara went on, "And I love every minute of it"

"Then why did you agree to travel with me?" Bakura lightly elbowed her,

"Because I'm greedy and I knew you would want to go to tombs near by" she smiled wickedly. She lifted her left hand to show him the rings on every finger except the ring finger.

"I love rings, especially when they came from high royalty" she said as she watched Bakura gentle grab her hand and study the rings. He smirked and asked,

"Is that all you got?"

"Yeah, I only take the ones I want, I love jewelry and all but I don't want to be covered in them. Makes it harder for you to move and then you have the necklaces making noises, that's why I just where rings" Lara pulled her hand away and examined her rings.

"I notice you don't have a ring on your ring finger, think you're going to get married sometime?" Bakura crossed his arms and waited for her reply.

"I don't know, its possible I guess" she shrugged her shoulders and stood, she began to grow uncomfortable at the marriage topic.

"Horses look ready, lets get going" Lara grabbed her horse and waited for Bakura to help her onto the horse, this time she felt him squeeze her butt as he pushed.

"Damn it, would you quit that" Lara blushed as she pulled her hood back over her head. Bakura chuckled as he pulled himself onto the horse.

About an hour later they reached the city, Lara told him to take the horses to the alleyway next to the hotel they would stay at as she went to look for her friend. She looked into the restaurant and saw her friend with tears in her eyes sitting there with a beer in her hand.

"Aiza, I'm here what's wrong?" Lara placed her hand on Aiza's shoulder, Aiza was a tall girl, her skin was dark like Bakura's and her hair was blonde, her eyes were dark brown and narrow. Her body structure was long and slender, her body shaped caused her to look like a guy do to the fact she had no hips or breasts, Lara and Aiza were long time friends who were always there for each other. She looked up and sighed deeply,

"I found someone, there's just that one same problem…" she began.


	6. Chapter 6

Just a quick note, I have changed the rating from T to M since I feel this story is going to need the M rating. Also, the content in this chapter or the whole story in general does not reflect my views, if this offends anyone I'm sorry.

"Aiza, let me guess" Lara sat down with a sigh,

"Yeah, I met a girl I really like, but…" Aiza took a deep breath,

"The same ol'?" Lara pushed her hair out of her eyes, Aiza nodded, the same ol' they were talking about is the fact that Aiza likes girls but she has never met someone the same way, she feels the Gods made her the only one. She has been beaten, attacked, and verbally abused her for her "personality disorder" a rare disorder for the time.

Lara was one of the only ones that wouldn't attack her, since Lara has no room to talk about being different.

"Do you think the Gods are punishing me or something? I never did anything wrong, its just…" Aiza held back her tears. Lara placed her hand on her shoulder and squeezed it softly.

"I just don't know what to do, I dated men before, I thought me liking girls was just a phase and maybe if I date a guy I would get over it, but I never did." Azia shook her head slowly and took a deep breath. Lara sat there for a moment, she didn't know how to reply or what to do.

"I don't know, Aiza, your disorder is weirder than my skin tone" Lara shrugged her shoulders,

"Who is this girl? Do you know for sure?" Lara asked, Aiza looked over her left shoulder and pointed at a small girl. She had a dark skin tone that was covered by a light green dress. She had long silver hair and bright violet eyes, she was skinny and shapely. She laughed and giggled with her friends in the corner of the room.

"Hmmm…I don't know, have you met her or-"

"Yeah, we talked before, we got along and everything but her friends took her from me before I could hint around, she asked me to join but…" Aiza slowly stopped,

"Too large of a group?" Lara placed her hand onto her lap, Aiza nodded.

"Well, lets go for a walk, getting away from her for a moment may help you calm down" Lara stood and guided Aiza out of the bar. She looked ahead to see Bakura pushing his way through the crowd,

"I thought you said you were meeting a girl" Bakura placed his hand on her shoulder and gave Aiza a hateful look,

"This is Aiza, she's not a guy" Lara pushed his hand off, "Sorry about him, he's a little slow" Lara snickered as she felt him lightly push her.

"Aiza huh? What's this issue you have?" Bakura walked beside Lara, Aiza looked down at Lara and debated on rather to tell him or not,

"He won't do anything, if he does…well…I'll take him off his throne" Lara glared at Bakura in the corner of her eyes,

"Hey, I don't even know what's going on, so don't threaten me just yet, brat" Bakura snarled, Lara rolled her eyes and pulled him down by his shoulder, she whispered Aiza's issue, his eyes shot open and shot up quickly. Aiza took a few steps away.

"Never heard of such a thing" Bakura shook his head. Lara nodded and took a calming sigh.

"So, what are we going to do?" Bakura rubbed the back of his neck,

"Well, see if her crush is the same way if not…maybe she can travel with us so she has company" Lara shrugged her shoulders and waited for them to respond. Aiza shrugged her shoulders and said it was fine with her, Bakura was more reluctant.

"Can't we just hire some chick to love her?" Bakura mumbled, Lara shook her head,

"No, she deserves real happiness too. Don't be an ass" Lara punched him in his shoulder, he rolled his eyes and looked ahead.

"Thanks, Lara" Aiza patted her on her upper back, Bakura glared at her in the corner of his eye. Lara smiled up at Aiza and replied,

"No problem, hun"

"Hun? Who the hell says hun?" Bakura sat on the edge of the bed an hour later, Aiza was in the next room resting before they downtown for the night. Lara was confused for a moment, until she remembered what he was talking about,

"I always called her that" Lara nodded as she brushed her hair in front of a small mirror, she then turned around and asked,

"Don't tell me you're going to be jealous all night because of Aiza are you? Bakura I have no interest in her like that so don't worry your pretty little head"

"You think highly of yourself don't you?" Bakura raised a brow, Lara glared at him then turned back to the mirror.

"I'm not blessed with beauty like the other girls are, so let me have some self-esteem you ass" she said as she put some makeup on. Bakura walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders, she continued to put on makeup as if he wasn't there. He watched her in the mirror and snickered, she quickly grew tired of his snickering and asked what was so funny.

"You have natural beauty, but you look like a freak putting on that makeup. Take it off" Bakura ordered,

"You're not going to order me around like that" she shook her head and pushed his hands off her shoulders, she turned back to the mirror and realized, he was right, she looked weird having makeup on, she grabbed a small towel on the windowsill and began to take it off,

"Not because you told me too" Lara pointed out,

"Because I'm right?" Bakura sat back on the bed, Lara didn't want to admit he was right, but she slowly nodded anyway.

"Sorry for being to honest and right all the time" he chuckled and laid down, Lara rolled her eyes and sighed. A few moments of silence went by before Lara asked,

"You will watch over me tonight right? Like last time?" Bakura sat up and gave her an odd look,

"No I was just going to let men mess with you while Aiza and I have a few drinks, Lara what the hell?" Bakura shook his head and raised his hands in confusion.

"A simple yes would have worked" Lara said as she fixed her skirt,

"What made you think I won't?" Bakura asked "You as my Queen I'm practically forced to protect you"

"Is it because you have too, or want too?" Lara walked over to him, he gave a smirk of a smile as he stood. He looked down at her sweetly and slowly kissed her for the first time. Lara kissed him back but quickly pulled away,

"No, no, it won't work it never works out for me" Lara shook her head and walked into the hallway, she walked down to Aiza's room and knocked on her door. Bakura stood there and said to himself,

"What the hell?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Aiza slowly answered, she rubbed her eyes and asked,**

"**What's wrong?" **

"**I just need to talk to you" Lara replied,**

"**Can I come in ?"**

"**Of course, come in and sit down, what happen?" Aiza nodded and guided her to sit on the edge of her bed,**

"**Bakura kissed me and I kissed him back" Lara rubbed her left arm, Aiza shrugged and asked,**

"**And the problem is?"**

"**I've only met him yesterday, I never moved that quickly before…I don't know, I kind of like him but…" Lara looked at her feet. Aiza waited for her to go on, she stood there rubbed her eyelids.**

"**I'm just scared I guess" Lara shrugged, Aiza looked down at her and asked,**

"**Of what?" **

"**Of him" Lara looked up at her and bit her lower lip,**

"**Why? Did he say or do something that made you feel this way?" Aiza sat beside her and hunched over. **

"**I guess because I dated thieves before, the lowlife pickpocket ones never cared for me, the more popular ones cheated on me, some even tried to abuse me…A group of thieves chased after me when I dumped their leader…I guess for that reason. He never tried to hurt me, but that's how they all started out, nice men" Lara shook her head and rubbed her fingers softly.**

"**I also find it odd…" Lara continued, "Of all of the beautiful, rich women in that city, he chose me to be around him, I'm not pretty and not even close to being rich…he told me it was because I was small enough to help him with tough tombs…but I really don't think that's the case."**

**Aiza shrugged,**

"**I don't really know him, I mean I know who he is, but what his intentions may be I have no idea" Aiza said with honesty.**

"**And you like him?" Aiza asked,**

"**Kind of, he's very handsome, nice enough, protective…" Lara trailed off for a moment,**

"**One day and he kissed you? God I wish I was that lucky with girls" Aiza chuckled, Lara smiled but said nothing.**

"**I really don't know what to say, I guess you could just take it slow and see if you do like him or not" Aiza suggested. Lara nodded, she always took it slow, made the men she dated wait for about a week before she kissed them, but Bakura…Bakura was her first time breaking out of her tradition. **

"**And if he tries to hurt you, you can always travel with me, we can be the loser pair" Aiza smiled and nudged her with her elbow, Lara smiled and replied,**

"**That sounds good."**

"**Are we still going downtown tonight?" Aiza asked a few moments later,**

"**Sure, we can go to some bars and maybe some shopping" Lara stood and fixed her skirt. Aiza watched Lara as she dust herself off, she looked at her head to toe. **

"**Aiza?" Lara gained her attention, Aiza looked up at her and smiled nervously. Lara gave a weak smile and walked towards the door,**

"**Ready in five minutes?" Lara asked her, she nodded and watched her leave.**

"**Bakura?" Lara slowly walked into the bedroom. He standing by the window looking out, his arms was crossed and it seemed he was in a world of his own. Lara walked over to him and placed her hand softly on his arm, he blinked a few times before he looked down at her. He smiled and asked,**

"**Where did you go?"**

"**Went to talk to Aiza, she'll be ready to go in about five minutes" Lara replied and walked over to the mirror for one last look over.**

**Bakura watched her as she fixed her hair, top and dress.**

"**You look fine" Bakura sighed and walked over to her,**

"**Well, I just want to see for myself" Lara sighed and continued to look. He stood close to her, causing her to look up at him, she blushed lightly and looked away.**

"**What did you mean by 'it won't work it never works out for me?'" Bakura walked back over to the bed and sat on the edge.**

"**Just…well…if I happened to end up dating you, it will more than likely not work because me dating never works out" Lara looked at him softly. **

"**You're very negative, do you know that?" Bakura smiled and scratched the back of his neck. **

"**After dealing with thieves you grow negative" Lara said sourly,**

"**Oh blah blah, like I haven't had my share of bad dating. I had a lot of shitty ones, doesn't mean I'm going to stop dating, just got to look harder" Bakura stood and walked over to her, she looked down at her feet and said,**

"**Yeah well, you're a guy you can get over it faster, there was a few times where I was in love but the bastards cheated on me, felt like it took years for me to get over them…how do I know you're not like one of them?" Lara looked up at him,**

"**How do I know you're not going to be like the other girls I dated? Some cheated on me while some just took off with my money, its not like you're alone in this topic, I've been there" Bakura said as he tried to keep his voice down. Lara looked away and crossed her arms.**

"**You're going to have to learn to trust people, especially if you want to date. If you stayed cold and keep everyone away, then of course you're going to be alone" Bakura went on,**

"**Okay, first off, you came to me, I never went looking for you or someone to date. So I don't have to immediately date you, and second…you're right…I am cold but its because of my past" Lara sighed and rubbed her right arm. **

"**Are you guys ready?" Aiza walked in without knocking, she saw them standing there and asked,**

"**Should I come back?"**

"**No…lets go" Lara looked up at Bakura then walked over to Aiza. **


	8. Chapter 8

~Thank you for all the good reviews!~

Lara wrapped her arms around Bakura's muscular arm as they pushed their way through the thick crowds. The nights were always busy in this city, it had the most bars, best shopping areas and lots of dancing and music in the streets.

Lara's right hand was still sore, she still couldn't move it so she made sure there was no pressure on it. Aiza stayed close to them, they decided to go to the small restaurant where Aiza's crush was eating. Aiza grew nervous when she aw her, she kept her head low and watched her from a distance.

"Are you going to go talk to her?" Lara asked as they sat down in the far corner of the building. Aiza shrugged her shoulders and replied,

"I want to…but"

"I understand" Lara patted Aiza's hand and added,

"When you're ready you can." Bakura ordered the whole menu like normal and some alcohol, the man turned to Lara, who kept her hood up and over her eyes, and asked what she and Aiza would like,

"I'll just have some water" Lara replied with a smile,

"Really? You're going to have water?" Bakura shook his head and motioned his hand,

"I don't drink" Lara said calmly as Aiza ordered some alcohol as well.

"Why not?" Bakura raised a brow, Lara shrugged her shoulders and replied,

"I…I just don't, I had a drink before but I didn't really like it" Lara placed her hands in her lap and fixed her skirt. He smiled and turned to Aiza, who was looking at the girl at the other side of the room, the girl was talking to some other girls, she was laughing and goofing around.

"Go talk to her" Bakura placed his forearms on the table in front of him, Lara looked up at Bakura and said,

"Only when she's ready"

"If she waits too long she may lose this girl" Bakura looked down at Lara, as if he was hinting something to her.

"Maybe its better if she waits before she goes blabbering off about her feelings towards someone, since it may backfire" Lara looked up at him and raised her brow,

"She should just tell her and get it over with, otherwise she'll just be regretting not telling her" Bakura turned his body towards Lara.

"Or she may regret telling her in the first place, so she needs to wait" Lara shook her head slowly. As the two went on, they didn't notice Aiza getting up and walking over to the girl.

The girl smiled up at Aiza and asked,

"How are you?"

"Good…good" Aiza nervously nodded and asked,

"You?"

"Oh, just fine…just…fine…hanging out with some friends…not a care in the world…yeah" the girl began to grow a little nervous as well.

"Want to sit down?" she asked.

"Yes!" Aiza realized she said that too loud. The girl and her friends scooted over to make room,

"I'm Nina, I don't think I ever told you that, you're Aiza, right?" Nina pushed her hair over her shoulders and smiled. Aiza nodded and replied,

"Nice name." Nina smiled and said sweetly,

"Thanks"

"Maybe there's more to this girl Aiza doesn't know about so she wants to wait" Lara grabbed her glass of water, she took a sip as Bakura went on,

"Well maybe…where is Aiza?" Lara looked up to see her sitting at the table with the girl, her jaw dropped and nudged Bakura to look at the other side of the room.

"See? She didn't wait" Bakura smirked,

"Who knows, it may backfire" Lara grabbed a piece of bread that was placed in front of her a few moments ago. Bakura rolled his eyes and began to stab the piece of meat in front of him.

"I wonder how its going over there" Lara watched on as she reached for some lamb. Bakura shrugged his shoulders and said,

"I'm drinking her drink if she doesn't get over here soon."

Lara shrugged and continued eating, she looked at the entrance when someone caught her eye, it was a man, a very tall slender man, her eyes shot open and hew jaw dropped,

"Oh no" Lara pulled her hood further over her eyes, Bakura chewed on the lamb and pulled the hood back off her eyes,

"What's wrong?" he asked and kept chewing,

"That man over there, that's one of my exies…I forgot he still lives here" Lara quickly pointed to the tall man and pulled her hood back over her eyes. Bakura looked over to see the man walking over to a table and ordering something, he smirked as he turned back to Lara,

"You were dating _him_? Good Ra he's not even buff" he smiled as Lara shook her head,

"I know I know, I dated him cause I felt alone, I regret him more than any other guy I dated" Lara sighed and hoped he didn't see her.

"Well, if he comes ov-"

"Lara?" her ex called out to her, he walked over and smiled down at her, she looked up at him and gave a weak smile. She soon felt Bakura's hand on her leg.

"Its been awhile" the ex said,

"It has, Rio" Lara said coldly, Rio rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at Bakura,

"New boyfriend?" Rio turned to Lara,

"Husband" Bakura smirked and shook his hand, "Bakura" he said as he pulled Lara's seat closer to his. Lara blushed and kept her head low, not wanting to see her ex anymore.

"Husband? When did this happen?" Rio looked down at Lara, she slightly looked up and said,

"We…um…"

"About a week ago, we're still newlyweds" Bakura smiled evilly as Rio's expressions changed, before Lara could respond or add anything, Bakura leaned down and kissed her on her lips, she blushed madly and couldn't help but to giggle. Rio let out a sigh and said,

"Well…good seeing you again, my food is waiting for me"

"Goodbye" Lara said while she smiled, she was trying to keep Bakura's hand from going up her skirt. When Rio left Lara turned to Bakura and said,

"Husband? Really?" Lara tried not to smile and to remain serious.

"Just having some fun" Bakura snickered and squeezed the upper part of her knee, she chuckled and pushed his hand away. Aiza looked over at them and smiled.

"Hey…um…Aiza?" Nina looked up at her,

"Hm?"

"Can I talk to you? Alone?" Nina asked softly, Aiza's heart raced as she agreed and let Nina guide her to the street, they walked into an alleyway and began to talk.

"I'm a runaway slave, those girls really aren't my friends, I'm just using them to keep attention of myself…do…do you think I could…travel with you?" Nina rubbed her fingertips softly, Aiza's jaw dropped, she didn't know how to react or respond,

"Um…yeah sure…I'm a thief so…"

"That's fine, I'm just looking for someone to protect me, some of my master's servants are looking for me" Nina nodded and placed her hand on Aiza's chest, she blushed madly but knew that Nina thought she was a guy, she took a deep breath and said,

"I'm a girl." Nina took a step back for a moment, she looked at Aiza from head to foot and blushed,

"Wow, really?" Aiza nodded and waited to see what she'll do,

"That's…that's fine…when, do you want to leave?" Nina walked back over to Aiza and stood close.

"How about tomorrow morning? I'm hanging out with some friends that I haven't seen in a while, you can spend the night at the hotel with me" Aiza said, Nina nodded with a smile and said,

"That's just fine" they walked back into the bar, Nina said something to her 'friends' and sat down with Aiza, Lara and Bakura.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Bakura and this is my lovely wife, Lara" Bakura snickered, Lara shook her head and said,

"We're not married, or dating" Lara knew it was going to be a long night…


	9. Chapter 9

"You're not even dating? Wow, you guys make such a cute couple" Nina said with a smile, Lara blushed heavily as Bakura snickered.

"Nina and I are going to be leaving town tomorrow, but she's going to hang out with us tonight" Aiza said with a smile, Lara smiled back and her and felt Bakura's hand on her knee again. She blushed lightly and this time, she didn't push his hand off. Instead she placed her wounded hand on top of his.

"Well, we're going to look around downtown and _buy_ things" Bakura smiled as he reached for his glass. Nina looked at him then Lara,

"Are you both thieves as well?" she asked softly, Lara nodded with a smile,

"Best of the best" she said and took a bite from her lamb, Bakura looked down at her, shocked with the sudden change in attitude. He slowly moved his hand upward and lightly squeezed her thigh. She didn't react to him, however, instead she went on talking to Nina.

Bakura growled when his actions were going unnoticed, so he moved his hand further up her leg and placed his fingertips on the inside of her thighs.

Lara still didn't react, she went on talking to Nina about what they were going to do. He rolled his eyes and gave up, he left his hand in place and went back to drinking.

Lara smiled evilly when she knew he was upset over the fact she didn't react, she realized she suddenly enjoyed being around him. She didn't mind where his hand was at, she decided to take his advice and trust people she didn't know, to an existent of course, since deep in her heart, she really did want to be with someone.

After dinner, Bakura held Lara tightly with his right hand and pressed her against his side. She didn't mind, since it would help her not to get lost in the large crowd. Aiza smiled down at Lara and went back to talking to Nina.

They stopped at a small shop sitting next to a building, they were selling jewelry and food as they tried to gain people's attention by yelling into the crowd. The man standing behind the table smiled as Lara and Bakura walked up to the table, Aiza and Nina went to the next table over.

Lara kept her hood up as she eyed the rings. Bakura didn't take his hand off her, instead he pressed her harder against him as the man behind the table talk to Lara sweetly.

"A young, beautiful woman such as yourself disserves beautiful handmade necklaces such as this!" he pointed to a long blue necklace that sparkled in the moonlight. Lara smiled and blushed at the complements.

"Thanks, but we can't afford it" Lara said sweetly,

"Your boyfriend can't afford it? I would leave him then, just kidding fella. How about I lower the price just for you, because a woman with your body figure must have this necklace lay across her collarbone!" the man smiled big and lightly touched her arm.

"Hey pal, keep your damn hands to yourself" Bakura pushed him away, the man looked at Bakura in disbelief.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you good sir" the man slightly bowed, Bakura didn't accept his apology, he pulled Lara along and walked to the table Aiza and Nina were standing at.

"Bakura, chill" Lara sighed heavily as she tried to pull away from him. He didn't listen, he just kept his eyes on the rings. Lara rolled her eyes and mumbled,

"Whatever"

She hated herself when she said in her mind, _Wow, a guy who is actually a jealous ass…I…I like that._

She blushed lightly as he leaned down and kissed the top of her head. She didn't reply or do anything, she just continued to look at the rings the man was trying to get Aiza to buy something.

As he got distracted, Lara and Bakura quickly grabbed the largest rings and walked away.

She looked up at Bakura and smiled, he smiled back down at her and pushed his hand down to her hip. She looked away and smiled. They continued to walk until Bakura guided her to an alleyway, away from everyone else.

"Bakura?" Lara pulled away from him, before she could ask another question, he kissed her single-mindedly. She redden quickly, she decided to take a chance and kissed him back. He pushed her back against the wall of a building and remained kissing her.

Lara placed her hand on the back of his neck and her wounded hand on his shoulder, he was forced to leaned down in order to kiss her, but he couldn't help but to like it. He placed his hands on her hip and pressed her waist against him. Lara pulled down her hood as he began to kiss her neck, she could feel him missing with her skirt, she shook her head and told him softly,

"Not that fast, nice try" she pushed his hands away from her skirt, he placed his hands back onto her sides and went back to kissing her. She kissed him back and pressed her lips against his neck, he snickered as her lips softly touched his skin. His right hand went down her back and grabbed her butt tightly, she jumped and yelped loudly.

He shushed her and started to kiss her neck, she moaned a little and rest her head on the wall behind her. Unexpectedly, Bakura bit down on her skin. Lara screeched in pain and tried to push him away, he forced his body against hers and wouldn't budge. He kept his teeth clamped shut on her skin, until he was sure it left a bruise.

"Wow, Bakura, what the fuck? That really hurt" Lara held in her tears as she rubbed the spot where he bit her, he had his left hand placed on the wall behind Lara, he leaned in close and snickered.

"Damn, I thought you were different from the other guys" Lara went on and still held in a few tears, "damn"

"Lara, its just this thing I like to do. I like to bite my girls hard enough to leave a bruise, kind of like a hickey, but with more love" Bakura smiled down at her and carefully touched her new bruise.

"You could have at least told me, damn that hurt" Lara shook her head and crossed her arms.

"Come on, stay open minded" Bakura placed his right hand on her hip and moved in for another kiss.

"Next time, you ask me if you can do that, I don't was bruises all over my neck and body. Okay?" Lara turned her head away from his incoming lips. Bakura sighed and rolled his eyes, he remained close and said softly,

"Fine" Lara smiled and kissed his on the cheek,

"Lets go find Aiza and Nina"


	10. Chapter 10

Lara held Bakura's hand tightly as she led him down the crowd streets as she looked for Aiza. She carefully pushed her way through the tall people and kept her head low. She looked for Aiza's body form but couldn't see her or Nina. Bakura rolled his eyes in boredom, he didn't care where Aiza or Nina was and really didn't want to go find them. His grip on her hand tighten as he pulled her back beside him, Lara looked up at him with a staggering look.

"Bakura, what are you doing?" Lara asked, Bakura looked down at her with an arrogant look and replied,

"Why should we waste our time looking for them when we can…get to know each other?" he replied with a smile. Lara rolled her eyes and said,

"She's leaving tomorrow and I may never see her again, so I would like to spend my last night with her…with her!"

"Alright fine, I bet she's back at the hotel with that Nina girl…" Bakura rolled his eyes and looked away. Before Lara could reply, he pulled her along through the crowd and headed towards the hotel they were spending the night at.

Lara wrapped her arms around his as he lead the way, the city was still alive and showed no signs of dying. There were still people dancing and singing along to the music as some just stood around and socialize. The moon and stars were bright that night as a light breeze kept the dancers cool. The light breeze brushed up against Lara's cheeks and tried to push her hood down. She hid half of her face in Bakura's arm and tried to ignore the hurting bruise on her neck.

Bakura pushed people out of the way without saying anything, he pushed and shoved as Lara softly said "Excuse us."

They were about a block away from their hotel, Bakura had a smug look on his face as he felt Lara tighten her grip on his arm. But what he didn't would cause him to be blind-sided in the future, Lara's reason for her grip tightening was the fact that she had a spine chilling feeling that they were being followed, and not by Aiza or Nina. She didn't know who was following them, or what was following them. The feeling caused Lara to constantly look over her shoulder and look into the crowd.

The feeling felt like a pair of eyes were constantly watching her, her every move, every breath her every waking moment. She knew it wasn't her ex-boyfriend, Rio, since he never seemed like the stalking type to her…She sighed heavily and tighten her grip again. She looked into the crowd only to see people dancing and walking around…

"If their not in there, then lets just forget about them and enjoy the night" Bakura said, not knowing Lara's paranoia was growing. She looked over her shoulder again and looked into the dark alleyway. Bakura noticed she didn't respond to his selfishness and was forced to look down at her.

"What's wrong?" Bakura raised a brow and looked into the alleyway with her.

"I swear someone is following us…" Lara mumbled and slowly looked up at him,

"If you say I'm crazy or something like that than I'll never forgive you" Lara pulled away and pointed at him.

"I didn't say a damn thing, so don't lose it just yet" Bakura shook his head and took a step back. Lara crossed her arms and shifted her weight to her right side,

"Sorry…I had a few boyfriends calling me crazy and paranoid…" Lara said softly and turned her attention back to the alleyway.

"Maybe we should forget about Aiza and Nina and just hang around downtown, maybe the fresh air and music will…calm you down" Bakura tried not to indicate that he thought she was a little crazy. Lara eyed him for a few moments, she knew what he meant and didn't like that fact that he didn't believe her.

"No, I still want to find Aiza" She knew that would anger Bakura, he sighed heavily and mumbled "Fine." She smiled evilly as she walked into the hotel, knowing she was having it her way. Bakura wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. They walked into the eating room and looked around, it was dead since most of the people were out partying.

The room was empty, there was no sign of Aiza or Nina. Lara sighed as Bakura pulled her away from the room. He began to walk up the staircase and down the hall where their rooms were. Lara looked behind her as the feeling of being followed grew.

"See? They're not here, lets go downtown and eat" Bakura snarled as he looked into Aiza's empty room. Lara looked inside and made a huff of confusion.

"Where could they have gone too? And you're hungry already?" Lara looked up at him and raised a brow,

"Sure, why not. I don't where they could be, how about we stick around here and wait for them? We could…wait in our room" Bakura smiled and leaned down to her, he placed his lips on her neck and pushed her hood down. Lara blushed slightly as she pushed him away.

"Fine, play hard to get. I'm just going to bug you more" he snickered and pulled her in close to him. He forced his lips onto hers and pressed her waist against his. She blushed madly and kissed him back, she reached around his shoulders and let his hands wander. Bakura soon forced his tongue into her mouth and touched hers softly. Lara jumped and pushed him away from her, she wiped her mouth and look up at him in embarrassment.

"Now what?" Bakura placed his hands on his hip and sighed, Lara was still blushing as she turned and began to walk down the hallway.

"W-we need to find Aiza, lets look around downtown" Lara said and tried to stop herself from blushing.

"I'm right here" Aiza stepped in front of Lara when it seemed she was just going to keep walking. Nina was beside Aiza holding a bottle of wine.

"Lara, are you okay? You're red all over" Aiza studied her with a raised brow, Bakura grabbed Lara's butt tightly and said,

"She's all right. She's just new at the whole tongue action it seems" he snickered as Lara blushed even redder. Aiza smiled but remained silent.

"We're just heading back to the hotel, what are you two going to do?" Nina stepped forward with a smile. Lara shrugged her shoulders and bit her lower lip when she felt his hand on her hip.

"I'm going to take her downtown for awhile since its not even midnight yet" Bakura said,

"You are?" Lara raised a brow,

"Yes, I am" Bakura pulled her in close to him and smirked.

"Well, have fun" Aiza grabbed Nina's hand and guided her down the hall, leaving Lara with Bakura. She looked up at him and blushed. He smiled and kissed her on her cheek. She smiled and pushed him away, her body stiffened when she felt a pair of eyes watching them. She looked around the hall to see no one.

"Come on, lets go" Bakura didn't notice her looking around as he grabbed her good hand and guided her down the staircase.

"What about Aiza?" Lara tried to stop in her tracks but was pulled along. Bakura snickered and said,

"Lara, they had a bottle of wine and their heading to Aiza's room. We're going to leave them alone, besides, we should spend some more time together"

"We're traveling with each other, its not like this is our only night of spending time together…and I don't think I ever agreed to go out with you" Lara said as they walked out onto the street.

"Fine, do you?" Bakura stopped, let go of her hand and crossed his arms. Lara stood there, stunned,

"Are you actually asking what I want? Wow" Lara rubbed her bruise softly…

"Yes or no?" Bakura raised a brow and looked down at her. Lara stood there, really thinking about it, she reflected of what just happened over the night with her and him…did she like it? Does she want more of it? She knew her opinion of him changed, but to the better? She looked up at him and said,

"Yes"


	11. Chapter 11

**Whew, lets do this!**

**Bakura stood there in awed, he couldn't believe she actually agreed to go out with him. Lara stood there, also stunned by her reply. She looked at him with a nervous look on her face and waited for his reply. Bakura smiled down at her, it was more of a smug type of smile as he grabbed her hand slowly and began to guide her towards downtown without either of them saying a single word.**

**Lara said a little prayer in her head, hoping this relationship would last longer than her previous ones. Even her being with Bakura, even her knowing that he would protect her from any threat regardless of what is was, she still felt unsafe, unease and unsure. She looked over her shoulders multiple times, Bakura ignored her actions and hoped she would calm down if he was to get drinks into her.**

**It was around midnight, the town had still no sign of dying. Everyone was laughing and cheering as they danced and drank. Bakura had no real destination in the city, he just wanted to walk around with Lara in hand, away from Aiza and Nina, his selfishness would always get the better of him. Lara sighed lightly and looked around, studying her surroundings. Men smiled at her, not knowing who she was while the women studied her hard, as if they did know her but couldn't place her. **

**The two didn't talk, instead Bakura laid his back against a building as so did Lara. They stared into the street and watched people dance and sing as well as playing music. Lara studied each person, her hood was pulled back just far enough for her to watch people, her robe opened, revealing her pale and skinny body. Bakura looked down and studied her figure, Lara was unaware as she continued to watch the dancers. Lara fixed her top and closed her robe, not knowing Bakura was looking at her intensively.**

**The air was cold as normal, the light breeze was still present and the moon was still visible. Lara stood there, rethinking the night, debating in her head on rather or not the decisions she made were good ones. Bakura held Lara's wounded right hand softly in his, he rubbed her thumb with his and looked out into the street. The people dancing were paying no mind to the two, they continued to dance as if it was their last time to do so.**

"**You okay?" Bakura finally broke the long painful silence between them, Lara looked up at him, startled by his deep voice. She nodded slowly with a charming smile. She looked into his deep violet eyes and swore she saw her soul in them. Her knees weakened and her cheeks turned red. Bakura smiled and moved his arm around her waist and pulled her in close to him. She looked away and smiled in complete embarrassment. **

**They stood there in silence, again, and watched people dance. Lara liked to dance, but was always self conscious about herself. Her previous boyfriends never wanted to dance and when men found out what she looked like, they also didn't want to dance with her. The tempo of the music slowed down, the women grabbed the men beside them and wrapped their arms around them. The men placed their hands on their girlfriend's hips and slowly moved their body along with the music. Lara didn't know how Bakura felt on dancing, so she didn't bother to ask. She wanted to dance, but was scared too. She could hear Bakura sigh, as if he was forcing himself to do something he didn't want to. **

**Bakura placed his hand on Lara's upper back and pushed her towards the dancing people, Lara slowly walked with him, debating if she wanted to dance. Before she could fully decide she found herself in his arms, her hands were on his elbows, since she couldn't reach his shoulders very well, while Bakura's hands rested on her hip. Lara looked up at him in embarrassment and slowly moved along to the music. **

**Bakura was slightly embarrassed as he looked away, afraid to make eye contact with her. Lara looked at her hands and around her. They both wanted to make eye contact with each other, but like two teenagers who are new to dating, they were afraid too. Lara's body was stiff, she tried to calm down and just relax, but she couldn't. Bakura tried to ignore the fact that it felt like he was dancing with someone who was as stiff as a plank of wood. **

**Lara moved her hands up his arms and rested her fingertips on his collar bone, she slowly looked up at him as he slowly looked down at her. They both looked at each other in the eyes and smiled. Before they could do anything else, the music ended and soon started up again but quicker. They were soon surrounded by fast dancing people. Lara felt trapped as she forced herself through the crowd and made her way over to the wall they were originally at. Bakura followed close behind and remain silent. **

"**We need to head back to the hotel" Lara said suddenly, Bakura looked down at her with disappointment in his eyes.**

"**Why now?" Bakura crossed his arms and shifted his weight to his right side. Lara stood there and shrugged her shoulders, the whole time they were dancing something was bothering her, and it wasn't that if felt like she was being followed, that feeling stopped before they danced. No, this feeling was different, it was nagging her to go back to the hotel and check on Aiza and Nina. Without replying Lara grabbed Bakura's hand with her left hand and began to guided him back to the hotel.**

**When they arrived, Lara opened the door to Aiza's room and screamed in horror. **


	12. Chapter 12

Lara stood there in horror, Bakura's jaw dropped when he laid eyes on a room full of blood and Aiza laying on the floor holding her stomach. She coughed up blood and reach out for Lara, tears ran down her face as she felt her life slipping away.

Lara kneeled beside her and held her hand, she pushed some of her blood soaked hair out of her face and tried to hold back her tears.

"Aiza, what happened?!" Lara tried not to scream, Aiza spit out some blood and replied,

"Three men, they…they barged in and took her…I tried to fight back but…"

"I get it, it'll be okay Aiza…Bakura, take her to the hospital" Lara looked over at Bakura, he knew better than to argue with her, he had a feeling Aiza wouldn't make it to the hospital. He walked over to her and picked her up, the blood soaked into his clothes and smeared on his skin. Aiza held her stomach and moaned in pain, she looked up at Bakura with fear in her eyes. Not because she still didn't fully trust him, but because she felt he was death in disguise.

Lara wiped the blood off her hands and looked around the room for any clues. She didn't know where to start so she decided to follow Bakura to the nearest hospital. Aiza begged along the way for Lara to find Nina for her, but Lara didn't know where to look and at the moment she was more worried about her lifetime friend than a girl she just met. They pushed through the thick crowd and finally made it to the small hospital. Bakura laid her on a small bed and watched the doctor run over and examine her.

Lara felt she was about to faint, the adrenaline was killing her. She grabbed on to Bakura's arm to keep herself from falling. Bakura pulled her in and pressed her against his side. The doctor ask the two to leave the room, Lara didn't want to leave her friend but knew she had no choice but to do so.

She could feel the rage develop inside her as they waited in the small waiting room. She paced back and forth with her arms crossed tightly, she was looking down at the ground snarling at the men who did this to her friend. Bakura knew it was best to leave her be, he watched her walk as he rested his back against the wall. What felt like hours to her was only ten minutes. Lara bit her lower lip, hard enough to where it bled. She licked her bottom lip and continued to walk from wall to wall.

Bakura crossed his arms and watched her, wishing she would stop. He wondered what would happen if Aiza was to die and how Lara would react. He was kind of scared to know, he learned quickly she was tempered enough but to have someone she knew her whole life die just may set her off to the extreme. He decided to take a chance, he grabbed Lara by the arm as she made her hundredth trip back to the wall and pulled her in close to him. He placed his right hand on the back of her head and forced her to lay against his chest. Lara snarled lightly at him but knew on the inside he meant well.

Lara sighed and placed her hands on his arms. Her heart slowed down only slightly, she wanted hear news, good news, but was wondering if Aiza's death was near. Bakura rubbed her back softly in hopes it would calm her down. After about five minutes of holding each other, the doctor walked out with blood all up and down his arms. Lara turned her body towards him and held on to Bakura's robe tightly.

The doctor frowned and shook his head, Lara's jaw dropped as the tears began to roll down her cheeks. Bakura was just as stunned, he looked at the doctor to see if he was lying.

"There was nothing we could do, I'm sorry" the doctor said and placed his hand on Lara's shoulder. Lara pushed him away and said,

"I want to see her."

Lara walked in to see Aiza's lifeless body laying on the blood soaked bed. Her eyes were closed and her lips were slightly opened. Lara leaned over the bed and wiped away her tears, she placed her hand on Aiza's cheek to feel nothing but coldness. The rage Lara was feeling earlier grew dramatically, she wanted to kill. Her hands and lips trembled in anger as she stood straight and left the room. She walked pass Bakura and the doctor who were talking to each other and walked out onto the streets.

Lara looked up at the sky, the moon was still showing, there were no clouds and the air was now full of despair and hatred. Her hands clenched into a fist, she ignored the pain in her right hand as her alter ego, her inner being, the contained hatred appeared from the shadows. The form was shadowish and the form seemed to be similar to the Greek monster, Medusa.

The shadow soon form into to real thing, the monster wasn't large, larger than a normal animal however. The monster, named Lady Serpent, hissed loudly, the citizens looked for the source of the noise and soon screamed in terror when they saw her. Lara snarled as Bakura walked out of the building to see her. He looked at the monster and knew there was no way he could talk her out of what she was about to do. He walked over to her and said,

"Go for it"

About an hour later, the city was destroyed. Building were gone, people were killed. Lara walked through the main street, walking pass the dead and dying bodies. She looked around in hopes to see Nina. She walked pass the fires and smoke as Bakura kicked a dead guy's arm. He looked over to see her walking by, he soon joined her and asked,

"No sign?"

"Nope, where could she be?" Lara snarled,

"Well, she maybe in one of the buildings that was blown into pieces" Bakura said as he placed his hand on her shoulder. Lara sighed and looked pass the fires, there was no sign of her.

"Or, she may have left the city before the destruction happened" Bakura soon added. Lara nodded and said,

"I want to find her"

"Lara, what good would it do?" Bakura looked down at her.

"I don't know, I just have to find her" Lara shrugged her shoulders and walked faster than Bakura in order to get away from him. She walked down the path of destruction as Bakura followed close behind.

The sun soon rinsed and Lara began to lose hope. She sat on a large rock and sighed, Bakura stood beside her and waited for her to say or do something. Lara didn't know what to do…she knew it was a lost cause to keep looking for Nina, but it felt like to her she has too, for Aiza…she looked up at Bakura and asked,

"What should we do?"


	13. Chapter 13

Bakura looked down at Lara and debated on what to say, he wanted to leave the destroyed town, knowing there was no use to stay and look for Nina. But he knew Lara wanted to stay and keep looking for her. He shrugged his shoulders as his answer and watched Lara's anger grow,

"What do you mean _I don't know_?" Lara stood and crossed her arms,

"Well what do you want me say?" Bakura tossed his hands into the air and them fall hard onto his sides. Lara shook her head and began to walk away from him, towards rubble that use to be their hotel. Lara didn't know what she wanted him to say, she didn't know what to do. She wanted to find Nina, but she felt it was hopeless. The sun was just about over the horizon, birds took off into the sky and left as a wall fell into a pile of rocks and sticks.

Lara stopped and stared a fire, around her she could hear the people moaning in pain and some yelling for help. But none of the voices were Nina's, thus, leaving the voices to keep moaning. Lara's right hand throbbed in pain, she held her hand softly against her breasts and sighed. Her angered spirit, Lady Serpent, stayed in the shadows of the standing walls, she hissed as she looked around her surroundings.

Bakura walked up behind her and placed both of his hands on her hip, he pulled her backwards until her back was resting against him. Lara kept looking into the fire, as if the fire would tell her what to do. Bakura leaned over and placed his head on top of hers. He looked into the fire as well and waited for Lara to do something.

The sun hit Lara's skin, it was warm but not comforting. It was more of a sign, telling her its been awhile and they still haven't found Nina.

"Lara, lets go" Bakura said with his chin on her head, Lara sighed and slowly nodded. She came to an agreement with herself, it was hopeless. She was gone, they spent hours looking for her, and they couldn't even come up with a sign that she was still alive.

"Who knows, she may have left town before the city was destroyed" Bakura stood up straight and began to walk down the crowed street. He stopped and looked over his shoulder to see Lara still standing at the fire. She rubbed her wounded hand as her feet slowly began to guide her to Bakura.

"You know, this wasn't my first city I destroyed" Lara said softly, Bakura raised a brow as he placed his hand on her hip.

"What's sickly funny, the reason why I destroyed my first town was because of the same situation, a friend of mine died and I took it out on everyone, not just he killers" Lara gave a weak smile as she looked up at him.

"Least you had a reason" Bakura said coldly, Lara's spirit soon disappeared as they approached some horses that manage to escape the fires. Lara raised a brow and Bakura's comment,

"I destroyed some cities just out of plan boredom" Bakura said,

"Killed everyone and everything" he added. Lara wondered how much of it was true. She turned her attention to the horses and soon looked back at the remains of the city. She didn't want to kill everyone, but it felt like she had too.

Bakura looked at Lara as he sat on the larger horse, she was still looking at the burned down city. He sighed and waited for her to get on the smaller horse.

"I think that it what separates a man from an animal, man has a reason" Lara said as she looked over at him,

"So you're calling me an animal?" Bakura asked,

"Depends how much of your story is true" Lara pulled herself onto her horse.

"Now you're calling me a liar?" Bakura moved his horse closer to hers. He glared down at her and as she replied.

"Are you a liar?" She asked,

"No"

"Than your animal in my opinion" Lara placed her hand on his collar bone to move him away.

"What if I said I did have a reason?" Bakura asked,

"Then you just lied to me about burning down cities without a reason" Lara pointed out. She gave smug smile and waited for him to reply. Bakura glared at her but said nothing.

"That's one thing I can't handle in relationships, liars, why lie? Its just going to bite you in the ass sooner or later" Lara continued on.

"I didn't lie about it" Bakura said coldly,

"I didn't say you did, I was just telling you what I don't like in relationships, actually…I don't like it when people lie to me in general…" Lara shrugged her shoulders.

"You're smarter than the other girls I dated" Bakura said with a smile. Lara blushed heavily and replied,

"I try my best."

"Well, I didn't lie, if I had a reason I would tell you…lets head to the next town, its twice the size of this city with a nearby tomb…" Bakura pointed to the east. Lara didn't want to leave just yet, but she forced herself too anyway. She followed closely behind Bakura and rode along the desert for a few hours.

She still wondered if Bakura was telling the truth, she wondered if it was a good idea to leave the city without searching for Nina longer…her thinking process was interrupted when Bakura slowed down to a group of men with horses blocked their paths into a small valley. The men weren't nice looking, they were more of a gang of thieves than anything. Lara pulled her hood over her eyes and stayed close to Bakura…


	14. Chapter 14

Thanks for being so patient!

Lara stayed close as they slowly approached the men. The men were tall and large like Bakura, almost intimidating her. There around five of them, all of them were wearing long black coats with the hoods covering most of their eyes. Their bodies and faces were covered in scars and bruises from recent fights. As they stood there, the valley blocked the sunlight, causing the groups to stand in the shade.

"Who are you two?" The leader of the group stepped forward, he was an older man, around his mid thirties. He seem calm and laid back, wise and careful. He pushed the hood off his head and studied Bakura.

"My name is Bakura, this is my wife Lara, we're passing through so move aside." Bakura said with confidence, Lara glared at him from under her hood but remain silent. The man looked at Lara and asked,

"Your wife?"

"No, girlfriend." Lara said and slightly looked from under her hood, the man nodded and looked at Bakura.

"If she is Lara than I take it you're the King of Thieves? And this is the Queen of Thieves?" The man opened his right palm, Bakura nodded with a smile.

"Lara uh? They were right, you _do_ have a nice body." One of the men stepped forward and gestured his lower body in a way that disgusted her. Lara rolled her eyes and looked away, the older man glared at the boy to the point where he lowered his head and stepped back.

"I'm sorry, some of my men haven't matured yet…" The older man turned back to Lara and slightly bowed. Lara nodded and remained silent.

"Are you going to let us through or not?" Bakura barked suddenly,

"I would advise you two to stay here until the next day, see the clouds? A powerful storm is about to come through…the last place you want to be is in a valley." The old man said calmly, Bakura looked at the sky and cursed, they were right.

"Bakura, I highly respect you and Lara. You two staying with us will be an honor, we have plenty of food and supplies for the storm." He continued, Lara smiled at him, finally showing her face.

"My, was a sight…" He smiled at her and offered to help her down. Lara blushed lightly and let him help her down. The other men stayed away, not wanting to get into trouble again. Bakura jumped off the horse and said the man,

"Remember, she is _my_ girlfriend."

"I know, I wouldn't dare steal from a fellow thief." The man nodded and said,

"My name is Neo and this is my small gang of thieves."

It was close to late afternoon and the clouds began to block the sun. The gang stayed in a cave high off the ground in the valley,

"We're making this our hideout, we were coming back from a near by city when you two showed up." Neo said as he passed a small bowl of cooked meat to Lara. Lara and Bakura sat next to each other by a fire with Neo as the rest of the gang sat at their own fire.

"Thank you." Lara smiled and gently took the bowl, Bakura had his hand on her knee and was glaring at Neo as he talked about their gang.

"We've been doing this for about thirteen years, all of us were from the same city, all of us were street rats as well." Neo explained, he talked with his hands most of the time which caused Lara to smile for some odd reason. After about ten minutes of talking, Neo smiled at Lara and asked,

"So how long have you two been together?"

"Um…I think about two days now. I lost track already!" Lara smiled and laughed for the first time since burning down the city. "I'm a terrible girlfriend!"

"O well, the time length together doesn't matter has much as time spent together." Neo smiled and turned to grab a small bowl of fruit.

"True." Lara looked up at Bakura and smiled, he smirked down at her and remained silent.

"Are you two planning to get married? That is what King and Queen of Thieves are suppose to do after all." Neo turned back and handed Lara the bowl, she blushed heavily and shrugged her shoulders.

"it's a little soon." Lara said before Bakura could answer.

"It is, I'm sorry." Neo nodded slowly,

"Oh its okay." Lara smiled and leaned towards him, Bakura placed his right hand on her waist and pulled her back towards him. The thunder was heard in the distance and the rain began to fall calmly. As they sat there, Neo talked to one of his men. Lara slowly began to feel the uneasy feeling again, as if someone from the city was there watching her again. She studied each men, none of them were looking at her, nor seem to be talking about her. Lara pushed herself up against Bakura and closed her eyes and wished the feeling to go away. Before she knew it, she was asleep in his arms…

_In her dream, Lara stood there in a city that looked familiar. People walked pass her as if she wasn't even there, she looked around and noticed Bakura wasn't with her. Not knowing what to do, she began to walk down the street. The feeling of being watched was still present, she looked over her shoulder constantly but saw no one watching her. She was soon drawn to a alleyway, she tried to steer herself away, but because it was dream she hardly had any control over it. She walked into the dark alley and was soon pinned against the wall by an unknown force. She kicked and screamed, but it felt like she was hardly kicking and no voice came out. _

_She tried to push the force away, but could feel it move closer and pinning her harder against the wall. Soon the force came into view, it was Bakura. Lara's jaw dropped and began to beg to him to let her go. He smiled wickedly and shook his head, his grip on her wrist tighten and he leaned closer to her. As she screamed everything went black._

"Lara?" Bakura shook her until her eyes shot open, she was sweating and crying while she was asleep, the gang looked at her with concern and confusion in their eyes. Bakura kneeled in front of her and wiped thesweat off her face,

"Are you okay?" Neo kneeled beside Bakura,

"I got this." Bakura snarled, Neo stood and walked back over to his gang. Lara sat there, wondering if she was still dreaming. She shook as Bakura kept his hand on her cheek. Lara slowly raised her left hand and placed it on Bakura's cheek, he smiled and leaned in to kiss her on the forehead. She moved away and glared at him,

"What's wrong with you?" Bakura studied her closely,

"I don't know." Lara studied him closely. The cave was quiet as the everyone tried to figure out what was going on between them.


	15. Chapter 15

Lara looked at Bakura and wondered if the dream was true. The dream was vivid to every detail. The men were standing in a circle around them and gazed in wonder. Lara soon broke the eye contact with Bakura and looked at each guy carefully.

"Lara?" Bakura helped her stood as she tried to stand on her own.

"What happen?" Lara asked, placed her hand on his shoulder and looked at Neo, as if he knew what happened to her. He shrugged his shoulders when it felt like she was asking him directly.

"My guess is you had a nightmare, welcome back." Neo smiled and offered her his cup of wine, she refused nicely and looked up at Bakura who still had confusion written across his face. She stepped back and leaned her back against the wall of the cave, still not sure about Bakura. He tilted his head a little to the left and studied her closely,

_Ra, did I just hook up with a nutcase?_ Bakura asked himself in thought and looked over at Neo who slowly leaned in and asked,

"Can I help you with anything?"

"I told you I got this," Bakura glared at him then turned to Lara,

"What's wrong with you?" Bakura asked with his arms crossed,

"Bakura, I just had a fucking nightmare about you trying to rape me, so don't talk to me like that." Lara pointed at him with her index finger, Bakura's jaw dropped and all the men turned and stared at him. Neo looked at him as well and then turned to Lara,

"Are you sure it was him?"

"He can't be mistaken Neo, thanks though" Lara walked passed the men and walked into a smaller, darker room that was deeper into the gave. She sat down and held her legs to her chest. With a sigh she closed her eyes and prayed she won't fall asleep. The men stood there in silence, Neo and Bakura looked at each other, studying each other.

"I can go talk to her if you wish," Neo said calmly,

"You just stay away from her, it doesn't concern you in anyway" Bakura snarled and walked into the same small room with Lara. She ignored him, wishing he would give her space. He sat beside her with his arms still crossed and laid his back against the wall. He remained silent, wanting her to start talking about it instead of forcing her too. That, however, only lasted for about two minutes.

"Lara would you talk to me about this?" Bakura nudged her with his elbow, some of the men were trying to watch, but some still looked into the small room.

"That was basically it, you tried to rape me." Lara shrugged her shoulder and held in her tears,

"You know I won't do that to you, right?" Bakura looked down at her, wishing she would stop being dramatic over what seems to be a silly dream. Lara remained silent. "Right?" Bakura asked again, she slowly nodded and looked at him. They studied each other, soon the sound of rain falling grew.

"How about we go sit by the fire?" Bakura stood and popped his fingers, Lara stood without fully replying and walked into the main room without him. She sat next to Neo at the same fire and sighed heavily.

"Is everyone okay?" He asked as Bakura sat next to her, closely. Lara nodded and kept staring at the fire.

"Well, if there's anything I or my men can do, you can always ask" Neo said calmly, a moment went by, then Neo found himself on the ground, with a stinging feeling in his cheek. Lara jumped to the other side of the fire as Bakura grabbed Neo by the collar of his robe and said with a snarl,

"I told you I got this." Soon Neo's men surrounded him with blades in hand.

"Bakura" Lara pushed through the tall men and grabbed Bakura's wrist, she glared at him and said firmly,

"Let him go, you're overreacting" Bakura let Neo fall back to the ground and grabbed Lara by her forearm.

"Let's go" he barked and tried to pull her towards the entrance. Lara resisted, knowing the rain would drown the lower part of the valley before they got to their horses, who were tied to a tree on top of the valley surface. She held her place but felt her feet slide as he pulled harder. Neo stood and forced Bakura to let go of her, soon, before Lara could figure out what was going on, Neo and Bakura were on the ground fighting.

"Bakura damn!" Lara grabbed Bakura's hair and tried to pulled him off of Neo. Some of Neo's men tried to pushed Bakura off as well as some tried to pull on Neo's robe to get him away from Bakura. Neo punched Bakura on his back and head, trying to get him off. Lara stood back and watched them fight, wondering what to do, and then it hit her.

"Bakura I'm pregnant!" she shouted, both men stopped and stared at her, Neo's men shoved Bakura off him and helped him up. Bakura stood quickly and looked at her with shock. Lara smiled wickedly and soon Bakura realized she was lying.

"You are not!" Bakura almost took a sigh in relief, he wiped the blood from his lip and then the sweat, from fighting and from the fake news, off his forehead. Lara gave a weak laugh and asked,

"Are we done fighting?" Bakura glared at Neo and snarled. He walked over to her and pulled her close to him, she slowly gave in, place her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat slow done.

"Well, shall we try to get some sleep?" Neo rolled his shoulders and walked back over to his men's fire. Leaving Bakura and Lara with a fire of their own.

Lara laid there, not wanting to go to sleep, wishing the night would pass. But she couldn't help to slowly close her eyes. She didn't have any dreams, which was good news, Lara sat up the next day with a smile on her face and stretch her arms. She looked around to see no one was there with her, she was alone in the cave. She quickly stood and walked out onto the ledge on the cave and looked around, no one. She couldn't hear any men talking, she soon realized, they left her.


	16. Chapter 16

Lara's heart raced as she walked into the smaller rooms of the caves to find them empty. She stood there and wiped the sweat off her forehead, she studied the largest room and saw that everything was gone, the fires were put out and the blankets were gone. She slowly walked out of the cave again and studied the ground; she slowly walked down the path and soon reached the bottom the valley that was flooded to about only an inch of water. She felt the cool water at her ankles as she slowly made her way out of the valley, birds flew overhead and called for the others, Lara didn't know where she was going, she didn't know what to do, all she knew was she had to keep moving to reserve her sanity. As she walked up a steep hill leading out of the valley, the sand stuck to her sandals and made it harder for her to walk; she slowly made her way to the top and looked over at the tree that should have held the horses. The horses were gone and now it was official: they left her.

"Where the hell could they have gone?" Lara began to talk to herself; she held her right hand softly as she walked over to the tree with no horses. She sat under the tree and sighed; she closed her eyes and reopened them to see the sky turning red. She quickly stood and studied the blood-red sky; the feeling of being watched was back. She constantly looked over her shoulder to see nothing but sand.

"Who are you?" Lara yelled and kept looking all around her, a hideous laughter filled the air, she looked around her for the source of the sound but saw no one. She then felt a strong grip on her shoulder; she turned around to see no one standing behind her,

"Lara?" she heard another voice, she looked over her shoulder to see a blurry outline of someone, she took a step back and felt someone behind her as she bumped into them, she whirled around to see no one again.

"Who are you?" Lara fell to her knees and hid her face; she then looked up at the sky and watched a large stream of water fall down onto her. She sat up screaming and felt another splash of cold water,

"Told you it would work," Bakura snapped at Neo and dropped the empty barrel, Lara let the tears roll down her cheeks as Bakura kneeled beside her. She quickly looked around to find herself under the tree with all the horses present,

"Why the hell did you leave me?" Lara slapped Bakura and stood quickly,

"What are you talking about? You're the one who just got up and left!" Bakura stood and pointed at her,

"I was looking for you all!"

"Lara, we were all here, we tried to talk to you but you looked through us and kept walking…," Neo placed his hands softly on her shoulders. Lara studied him and shook her head; drops of water flew off the tips of her hair and landed on the ground.

"What happen?" she asked as she held her head,

"We don't know," Bakura shrugged his shoulders and took a few steps over to her. She looked up at him and sighed; she studied his eyes and soon found herself in his arms. He held her tightly and tried not sigh, he was beginning to think he was now dating a complete nutcase. Neo stood across from them with her arms crossed and a suspicious look on his face, he was beginning to believe that Bakura had something to with Lara's behavior, but he also knew he hasn't been around her long enough to know if this was how she normally behaved.

"Can we just go, Bakura?" Lara looked up at him sighed heavily, he nodded and wished she said that earlier.

"You both want to leave already?" Neo raised a brow,

"We just needed shelter for the night, now we're out of here," Bakura said as he pulled Lara's horse over to her. Neo knew he had nothing to say to that, so he stood there and watched Bakura help Lara onto her horse. Lara turned to Neo as Bakura got onto his and said,

"Thank you for taking us in,"

"Are you sure you want to leave?"

"I think it's better if we do, thank you again," Lara nodded, a few moments later Bakura's horse took off and then Lara's. They ran through the valley and soon made it out on the other side of the large hills and mountains. Bakura's horse slowed down then fully stopped; Lara stopped beside him and asked what was wrong,

"What the hell was with you and you're dreams?" Bakura asked, Lara shrugged her shoulders and suggested,

"Maybe it was the food I ate, because it didn't happen until then,"

"I guess…next time we're not doing that again, we'll find our own place to sleep…," Bakura said sourly and pulled Lara in for a kiss; he kissed her on her head and patted her back. Lara smiled and turned away, Bakura still figured he was dating a nutcase, but he figured to stick around and see what happens. Lara felt his hands on her thigh moving upward, she blushed and pushed his hand away. Before he could say anything, she took off on her horse while laughing. Bakura chuckled and took off after her, they both kept their horses running until they ran out of energy about twenty minutes later.

They were close to the next town but knew they had to let the horses rest, Bakura sat down next to a large rock and rested his head. Lara pushed her hair behind her ears and studied him closely. Bakura smiled at her and hinted her to sit with him by nudging his head slightly to the left. Lara slowly walked over to him and sat beside him, the dream of him was still fresh in her mind as she watched him closely. He wrapped his arm around her and placed his right hand on her inner thigh; she looked away and grew a little nervous. His hand moved upward under her skirt and soon touched her, Bakura smiled from under his hood and kissed Lara on her neck, her heart sped up as she pushed his hand away from under her skirt. He placed his right hand on her hip and kept kissing her.

"Bakura…" Lara mumbled nervously as he tried to pull up her shirt, soon it got to the point where she could no longer handle his wandering hands; she pushed him away and stood. Bakura pushed the hood off his head and studied her; Lara had her arms wrapped around her as she walked back and forth,

"Now what's wrong?" Bakura crossed his arms and raised a brow, Lara shook her head and couldn't believe he asked her that,

"Bakura, that dream is still scary to me, so your wandering hands isn't helping me get over it," she replied with a sigh. Bakura rolled his eyes and stood; he walked over to her and pulled her close to him. He leaned down and kissed her on her lips even when she tried to pull away. He held her tightly and kept kissing her; soon she slowly gave in and kissed him back. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and tried to think and kiss at the same time. He placed his hands on her lower back and pushed her pelvis into his, she turned away and mumbled,

"Bakura…what did I just tell you?"

"The only way you'll get over it…," Bakura smirked and kissed her again, Lara placed her hands on his collarbone and sighed. His hands began to wander, Lara's heart sped up again as he touched her breasts.

"I can't do this," Lara shook her head and pulled away from him, Bakura threw his hands into the air and followed her over to the horses,

"Lara, how the hell can we date if you can't even handle the simplest affection?"

"You knew I had issues in the first place, so its your fault if you're not happy with me!" Lara whirled around and snapped at him. He stopped in his tracks as she went on,

"I have issues Bakura, you can tell just by looking at me, I have issues with men and issues with dating. I have issues with myself and with life in general, I am not sane, I am not perfect, I am not what you thought I was!"


	17. Chapter 17

Bakura took a step back, Lara wiped away a tear and huffed.

"I'm not what you thought I was Bakura, so if you want to leave me now that is just fine with me," Lara crossed her arms and shook.

_I didn't think the Queen of Thieves was this insane…_ Bakura thought to himself, he stood there, watching her as she stood there watching him.

"I…I do enjoy being with you, I like the company, but…," Lara looked away, "I can't handle dating well, not like the others…so…" she stopped and pushed her hair behind her ear, "I…I need more of…special care than the others you dated." Bakura crossed his arms and shifted his weight to his right leg, allowing Lara to continue her slow meltdown.

"This is why I became a thief, because no man was going to want to deal with me. So living alone like I did before was the only way I can remain…sane," she looked down at her skin, dirty but clearly pale, "I just…I don't know…" she looked up at him.

"Okay…" Bakura started, "you said before about someone following you?"

"Yeah?"

"How long have you had this feeling?"

"Feels like my whole life, but I think for about three years…" Lara shrugged her shoulders. Bakura studied her movements, he took a step over to her and grabbed her lower jaw. She let out a growl as he studied her face but mainly her eyes. He could see himself in them, Lara placed her hand on his forearm and shook. Her turned her face to the side and studied her eyes from there, then to the other side, then forced her to look downward. He let his hand drop and firmly he said,

"You're a host for your own stalker." Lara took a step back,

"What?"

"You are a host for your own stalker, he's the one that's been driving you mad," Bakura replied with crossed arms.

"Well, how is he possessing me?"

"Maybe he likes to see you suffer, or he likes you and wants no other man with you…" Bakura shrugged his shoulders calmly. Lara slowly touched her face, her lips trembled and she studied Bakura.

"So I'm not crazy?"

"Well, you are, but you have a reason to be," Bakura replied with a smirk of a smile. Lara smiled big and started to jump up and down,

"I'm not crazy! I'm not fucking crazy!" she wrapped her arms around Bakura and pulled him down, kissing him on his cheek. "I'm not crazy!" she cheered and hugged him tightly. Bakura rolled his eyes and took a sigh of relief. She pulled away from him and in the corner of her eye saw a tall large man standing there with his arms crossed. When she turned to fully look at him he was gone, Lara went quiet.

Bakura looked where she was looking, no one there. He knew then he was going to be dealing with a smart spirit and possible a tough one. Lara looked up at him and sighed,

"How do we get rid of him?"

"We go to the next town and find someone who can," Bakura replied as he turned and walked back towards the large rock. Lara followed closely as the feeling returned.

"When can we leave?" Lara looked at the horses, Bakura studied the horses and replied,

"I'd give them another ten minutes, we ran them pretty hard." Lara sighed, she sat beside him and constantly looked around. The feeling was stronger now, felt like he was standing and looking down at her as Bakura wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

It was the longest ten minutes of her life, but finally they got onto the horses and headed towards the next town. The city was much larger, fuller and busier. The streets were crowed with buyers and sellers, thus they were forced the leave the horses at the gate. Lara held Bakura's hand tightly, he smiled as he pushed his way through the crowd. Not knowing the city at all, he suggested to find a place to spend the night at. Lara wanted to find a person to get rid of her ghost, after a little argument Bakura found the hotel and quickly reserved a room.

"See? That wasn't too hard…" Bakura wrapped his arm around her shoulders, Lara snarled and said sourly,

"Come on and let's find that person."

"Lara, I'm not even positive there is one here at all."

"You said there were someone here!" Lara pulled away from him,

"Well it's a big city so it is possible!" Bakura threw his arms in the air and almost hit a guy. Lara crossed her arms, feeling sick to her stomach. "Look," Bakura wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close, "lets look around, and if we don't find anyone, we'll head over to the next town. Okay?"

Lara's lips trembled, thinking she was close to salvation only to be further away. She nodded and took a deep sighing breath. He rubbed her back and encouraged her to follow him through the busy street. She kept her hood over her eyes and watched everybody's feet as Bakura pushed their way through the crowd…

About two hours later, it was close to lunch time. There was no sign of a person who can rid of Lara's stalker. Losing hope she held on to Bakura's sleeve and tried to remain sane. It seem to her that she can see the man slaking her in the corner of her eyes, before she can fully look at him, he would be gone. So far she couldn't fully make out her stalker's looks, the only thing she could make out was how tall and large he was.

Bakura knew Lara was about to have another breakdown, he kept her close as he guided her to a small restaurant. Not knowing the drama that is about to unfold there…


	18. Chapter 18

Lara kept her hood over her eyes as she sat down at a table in the corner of the restaurant far away from others. She wanted to search for the person who can help her more than grabbing a bite. As if Bakura didn't care about her breakdown he ordered the whole menu with water. Lara rubbed the side of her head and closed her eyes, shaking mostly as she could feel the man glaring at her. More active than normal he knew something was up, the man stared at Lara, never feeling so much hate in his life or afterlife. He kept his arms crossed and turned his attention to Bakura who just placed his hand on her knee. Waiting for his moment to strike, the man remained still.

Lara placed her hand on top of Bakura's, knowing she wasn't born crazy she felt better with him and his behavior. However, she knew if his behavior remained as is, her stalker won't leave them alone. Still feeling the strong presence, she laid her head on his shoulder and prayed in her head for the stalker to leave.

Bakura kept looking at his left hand, dirty and had some dry blood on his fingertips. He moved his fingers around and thought deeply about Lara's ghost. With his thumb he gently rubbed her knee and remained silent. Lara bit her lower lip and sighed softly, she could hear people talking around her, they were paying no mind to her which she was more than grateful for. Bakura pushed back his hood, taking a deep sigh, he squeezed her knee but didn't look down at her.

They both remained silent, Lara knew the man was sitting next to her and he was. He placed his forearms on the table and studied her, he wanted to touch her but he also wanted to kill Bakura. He realized Bakura was much tougher than the other men Lara was once with. Knowing it was going to take a bit longer, he sat there, plotting. Slowly, he reached over to Lara and placed his hand on the top of hers. Lara felt her hand tingle, she took a deep breath and pulled her hand away.

The room was cold, though it was the middle of the day and there were people constantly walking around, it felt like it was nighttime in the desert. The cold feeling wasn't a pleasant one, felt like it was a hint of things to come. However, the other customers continued to eat and drink, no minding Bakura or Lara sitting in the corner. When the food was delivered, Bakura for once didn't jump right into eating. He was in too deep of thought to even notice the warm food sitting in front of him. Lara too did not notice the food, her eyes shifted back and forth while she daydream.

A waiter dropped a tray of food, causing a loud bang that forced Bakura and Lara out of their deep thinking. They studied the food for a few moments, trying to remember when it first arrived. They then look at each other and did not smile, Bakura leaned down and kissed her on her forehead. She then gave a weak smile, she sat up straight and felt the man sitting beside her, studying her closely. She ignored the feeling and reached for a piece of tough bread, though her stomach was uneasy, she hoped eating will help.

"Alright so after this we keep looking," Bakura mumbled as he reached for a glass of water. Lara nodded and pushed her hair behind her ear, she was getting warm under her hood. However she didn't know this place well and felt like it wasn't the best place to try new things. As sweat rolled down her forehead she tried not to think about being hot, instead focused on what Bakura was saying and eating.

"That's fine, just…never mind," Lara nodded but then shook her head.

"What?"

"Nothing, I figured it out," Lara gave a weak smile and patted his forearm. He didn't smile nor glare, he turned back to his food while his hand on Lara's knee. Suddenly, he felt someone digging their nails into his hand. He yelped and pulled his hand away from her, she jumped and quickly asked what was wrong.

"Why the hell did you claw me?" Bakura shook his hand and glared at her. Lara looked at his hand then hers, she hardly had nails since she bites them from habit.

"But I didn't, Bakura," Lara shook her head and reached for his hand, she looked at his large hand closely to see nail marks in his skin. Some marks were deep while some were just a scratch. Lara's heart sank, she slowly looked up at him and hinted to him to lean over,

"Bakura, he's here, he doesn't like you," she whispered into his ear. She slowly pulled away and then felt a grip on her wrist, she looked over to her right to see no one there. Bakura felt his cheek burning, he carefully touch his cheek and realized he was scratched there as well.

Bakura knew he was in trouble, if a spirit is powerful enough to cause physical harm to someone is not the kind to be messing with.

"I'm sorry Lara, I can't do this, I'm leaving," Bakura said to her as he stood,

"What? What are you talking about?" Lara stood and grabbed his sleeve, "You can't leave me like this you bastard." There was still a grip on her wrist, however she ignored it, couldn't believe what she was hearing. Bakura pulled away and sourly said,

"I just can't handle being around a nutcase, I'm sorry…maybe _if I was to find help for you_, I can come back with a _doctor_ to cure you…until then, _stay at a hotel._"

Lara tried not to smile, she worked up some tears and sat back down. The stalker however, knew what Bakura was talking about. While Lara sat there holding her face in her hands, Bakura left, wanting to find help quickly, not knowing the stalker began to follow.

After he left, Lara ate a bit more and went back to her hotel room, hoping he would be back soon.


	19. Chapter 19

Lara sat on her bed back at the hotel, the hotel room was small with only one window that showed the main street scene. She placed her coat on the bed and examined her pale skin, dirty as normal she wondered if there was a place to bathe. She touched her smooth skin and thought about Bakura, she wondered where he was and if he has found someone to help her.

Outside her room she heard people walking by, talking loudly and laughing, not knowing she was there. With a deep sigh she placed her hand on the back of her neck and pressed her palm against it, she could feel the knots in her neck from constant stress as she tried to loosen them. The room was quiet, no one was walking by her room anymore, the air was cool and still as she looked around and studied everything. She couldn't help but to notice that she felt safe, that no one was watching her, like he wasn't around.

She laid her back against the wall and felt slightly happier, but then a realization hit her and caused her blood to go cold.

"Oh no, he's following Bakura," Lara sat up and felt her heart race quickly. She jumped out of her bed and grabbed her coat and made her way towards the door. She dashed down the hallway and down the staircase onto the street. As she pulled her hood over her eyes, she began to think where to start looking for him. She figured downtown was her best bet, she pushed her way through the crowd and began to look for him familiar body.

Meanwhile, Bakura was downtown but close to the walls of the city. He rudely pushed his way through a thick crowd and made his way down a dark alley. He felt someone following him, he looked over his shoulder a few times but saw no one, thus he figured her stalker was now following him. Acting like he didn't care, he continued to walk along the wall and hoped the person he was looking for was still living in the alley.

He pushed his hood down and studied the walls of the buildings, looking for some sort of sign of a store. The spirit stayed close behind, waiting for the right time to strike. He followed Bakura as he found a small door covered by a dark purple blanket, Bakura pushed the blanket and looked into the room.

The room was filled with calm smoke from herbs and candles, the floor was covered in rugs and in the middle of the one-room store was a small table with more herbs and candles on it. In the corner of the room was a very old woman, the woman wore dark purple clothing that only showed her head. The woman's skin was pale but not as pale as Lara's, her eyes were dark brown and the wrinkles in her face only supported how old she was. She looked over at Bakura and motioned him to come in.

"How can I help you?" The woman asked in a soft voice as she kept her hands in her lap. Bakura walked in and took a few steps over to a table. The woman's eyes shot open and added, "Oh, you don't have a friendly spirit following you..."

"No I don't, this spirit or demon has been stalking my girlfriend for years," Bakura took his coat off and added, "he's following me now because I went to get help."

The old woman knew the spirit was standing by the door. She could feel the hate and anger coming from him, it was an unwelcoming feeling as the spirit glared down at the woman with his arms crossed tightly.

"The spirit has dated Lara before he died," the old woman said.

"Wait, I never said her name," Bakura's eyes shot open. The old woman smiled and hinted him to sit.

"I know who you are, Bakura, and I know who you desire," the woman grabbed a few small bowls of herbs and placed them on the table. Bakura watched the woman closely and couldn't help but to admire her. "This spirit, he was close to Lara, but he died violently...he still believes he is dating her and thus doesn't want anyone else to come near her."

"Can you get rid of him?" Bakura crossed his arms and rolled his head to stretch his neck. The woman looked down at her hands, allowing her to feel the spirit's energy.

"We're going to need Lara," the woman looked up at Bakura, "She is the source of his being, so she will be the source of his crossing over."

"I left her back at the hotel, I'll go get her," Bakura stood and began to put his coat on. The old woman nodded and said,

"He will follow you, be quick and careful."

Lara continued to push her way through the crowd, slowly making her way downtown. Her heart was racing and her hands were shaking, sweat rolled down her forehead and onto her face.

"Excuse me, excuse me," Lara said while she carefully pushed people aside. She placed her hand on a man's chest and looked up, it was Bakura who looked like he just ran. Bakura grabbed her by her hand and pulled her through the crowd without saying a word. She held onto his hand tightly and tried to keep up with him.

About five minutes later he guided her to the dark alley and to the old woman. He motioned her to walk in first and walked in after her.

"Hello Lara," the old woman smiled and hinted her to sit at the table. Lara looked up at Bakura and wrapped her arms around his chest. He was still breathing heavily as he rubbed the upper part of her back, but then pushed her away and motioned her to sit at the table.

"So can you help me?" Lara asked as she sat on Bakura's right and sat on her legs.

"I can now, Lara...the spirit is someone who've you dated before. He has died but still believes you two are dating, thus he doesn't want anyone near you," the old woman began to mix the herbs into a medium size bowl. "He is here now, watching us."

Lara looked over at the door and knew he was standing there watching her the most, she bit her lower lip and grabbed Bakura's hand. He squeezed her hand back and kept his eyes on the old woman who was still mixing the herbs.

"Lara, you are the source of his being so you are the source of his crossing over," the old woman went on. Lara nodded and took a deep breath, "you need to let him know that he is dead and he must cross over."

"How can I do this?" Lara asked and felt Bakura's grip tighten.

"You will have to face him in your mind, these herbs will put you into a deep sleep but not a permanent one...you need to face him and have him cross over. Or you will never live in peace," she replied simply.

"Wait, she has to face him alone?" Bakura snapped.

"Yes, I know you want to help her Bakura, but she has to do this on her own...," the old woman nodded and began to crush the herbs into smaller and smaller pieces.

"Okay, lets do it," Lara nodded and took a deep breath. Not knowing the danger that was coming her way.


	20. Chapter 20

_**The old woman poured hot water into the bowl of the crushed herbs, she place the bucket of water back over the small burning fire that sat beside her and stirred with a wooden spoon. Lara rubbed the back of her hand and watched the old woman closely, she could feel her heart race and her feet going cold. **_

_**Bakura held on to her hand tightly and hated the fact that he couldn't help her, he wished he could go with her into her mind and face her stalker. Lara wished the same thing, but she knew she had to face him on her own. **_

_**She breathed slowly through her nose and tried to calm herself, the old woman lit a few candles and began to talk in a language she couldn't understand. The woman held the bowl on her fingertips and lifted it above her head while still talking in an odd language. She then looked over at Lara and said,**_

"_**Lay on the mat over there, this is where you'll rest." Lara looked over at the mat and walked over to it. The mat was just a simple purple blanket with a stuffed white pillow, she sat on the mat and was handed the bowl. Bakura sat beside her and never looked so worried in his life. "You'll be asleep for a few hours, however…"**_

"_**What?" Lara asked as she held the bowl on her fingertips. **_

"_**If he was too…win, you might never wake up," the old woman replied with a worried look upon her face. Lara's feet went cold, she looked over at Bakura as her lips began to tremble. Bakura's eyes were wide open, he looked over at the old woman and asked,**_

"_**Are you sure I can't go with her?"**_

"_**There is no way, she must face him on her own. Don't worry Bakura, I can tell just by looking at her she is a strong one, she'll be fine," the old woman smiled weakly at him and turned to Lara. "Whenever you are ready, dear."**_

_**Lara didn't drink it immediately, she looked over at Bakura and said softly,**_

"_**Bakura…I do love you."**_

"_**You too," Bakura placed his hand on the side of her face and smiled nervously. She smiled weakly and pulled the bowl up to her trembling lips. She slowly took in the herbs and swallowed, the herbs tasted odd but not disgusting. By the time she finished the bowl, she could already feel her body going numb on her. **_

_**The old woman placed her hands on Lara's back and slowly lowered her down onto the mat. She looked up at Bakura and said,**_

"_**Its all on her now."**_

_**Lara stood there, surrounded by darkness of her own mind. She looked around, seeing nothing, but slowly her mind began to imagine her new surroundings. She was now standing in the desert, in her normal clothes but with no Bakura standing by her. She crossed her arms and looked around her, there was no sign of life nor any sign of a city. She stood by a pond with a tree hanging over it, the sun was hanging high above her and she could feel the heat on her skin.**_

_**Not knowing what to do, she decided to stay put and think up a plan on how to make her stalker crossover. Behind her, she began to hear footsteps in the sand, she looked over her shoulder and saw no one. She turned back around and looked down at the pond. She then heard the footsteps again, she looked over her shoulder to see a large demon-like creature lunging for her. She screamed and felt the creature land its hands on her shoulders and forced her into the pond. **_

_**She felt the water rush around her, and then felt her back hit the bottom, knocking the air out of her. She tried not to breath in as she began to thrash her arms and legs around, trying to push the beast off. The monster would remind one of a werewolf, it bit down on her hand and pulled her up to the surface. She gasped for air and tried to pull away from the beast that still held on to her hand. **_

_**She laid on her back and tried to kick at the beast's stomach, which seemed to have no effect on it. She could the teeth pushing into her left hand as he pulled and thrashed around. Lara screamed loudly and grabbed the beast's ears and pulled,**_

"_**Get off me!" She screamed and continued to kick at the beast's ribcage. After a few hard kicks the beast let go and jogged away on all fours. He turned back around after ten feet and looked at her. She quickly got to her feet and took a step back, "come on and show your true form!"**_

_**The beast stood on two feet and took a form of a man, the man she kept seeing in the corner of her eye. He was tall, large and burnt all over. His eyes were a dark brown almost black, they were narrow and cold looking as he studied every part of her body. He was a bald man, but was more than likely from being burnt. He only wore a skirt like bottom that was tight around his hip and hung down just below his knee.**_

_**Lara could feel her hand throbbing in pain, but she ignored it and kept her eyes on him. The man slowly walked over to her, a slow steady pace made her legs weaken. She walked around the pond and told him,**_

"_**Stay back!" The man then lunged for her, knocking her onto her back, he sat on his knees which were on her sides. He held on to her wrists and leaned over her, his grip on her wrists was tight as he pressed his lips against hers. Lara turned away from him and twisting her body around, trying to get him off her. He kept a firm grip on her and pushed him lips along her cheek until he reached her lips. She then quickly shot her knee up and kneed him in his crotch, he let out a painful grunt and pushed himself away from her.**_

_**Lara quickly stood and kicked him in his chest, he rolled over onto his back and looked up at Lara who was about to kick him in his head. He grabbed her ankle and twisted it, there was a loud crack from her ankle and a sharp pain shot up her leg. With a loud scream she fell backwards and onto her back she laid. She laid there, her right hand still broken from when she first met Bakura, left hand filled with holes and her right ankle was now broken. **_

_**The man crawled over to her and looked down deep into her eyes, she looked up at him and sighed heavily. The environment around them suddenly changed, the sky turned blood red and the ground was black but still sandy. The tree and pond was gone and whirls of black circled around them, Lara looked around and realized she was going to the deeper part of her mind, the more darker part. **_

_**She looked back up at him and saw he took the form of Bakura, her eyes shot open and mumbled his name. He smiled and kissed her on forehead,**_

"_**Ah, get away from me. You're not him and you'll never be him," she tried to push him away. He pushed her hands away and said,**_

"_**He will never be me, he will never have you."**_

"_**Who are you? What the hell makes you think I'm yours?" Lara snapped and moved away from his lips. Stilling looking like Bakura, he smiled down at her and said,**_

"_**Surely you remember me, a little over three years ago…you dated a young semi-famous thief of fire…"**_

"_**Zoa?" Lara's jaw dropped, the name of her ex-boyfriend the Fire Thief. He then turned into his original form, before he was burnt. He was a handsome man, short black hair, dark skin tone, bright brown eyes and a bright smile. He kissed her on her lips and her heart raced faster, she loved him dearly when he was alive, but after she found he cheated on her, she killed him and burnt his corpse out in the desert.**_

"_**Three years ago you killed me, I wasn't going to let you off the hook that easily," Zoa said with a wicked smile. **_

"_**What do you mean let me off the hook? You're the one who cheated on me!" Lara snapped at him and turned away from him. He rolled his eyes and tighten his grip on her wrists, she moaned lightly in pain and shut her eyes. She could tell it was going to be much tougher to get him to crossover than she originally thought… **_


	21. Chapter 21

Lara took a deep sigh and looked up at Zoa, who was smiling down wickedly at her. His grip on her wrists tighten slightly as he leaned down and began to kiss her neck, she bit her lower lip and cursed in her mind. With a quick lift of her right knee, she kneed him in his side and forced him off her.

Quickly standing, Lara almost fell back down, the pain from her ankle shot up through her leg which caused her knees to weaken. She looked around her new environment which began to change again, this time it was just a solid black world. From the ground to the sky the world was swallowed in darkness.

Zoa jumped to his feet and dashed for her, with a gasped Lara turned around and took off running, ignoring the pain shooting up her leg. Running towards nothing, it felt like she was running in place. Looking over her shoulder, she saw nothing behind her. She slowed down to a walk then a stop, looking around she saw nothing, only herself when she looked down at herself.

She tried to catch her breath and think up a way to get him to crossover, she knew he was too upset to just willingly cross, thus she needed to find a way to trick him. She took a deep breath and then felt a pair of hands on her hip, she spun around to see Zoa, looking like Bakura, glaring down at her, with a wicked smile he said,

"Come on Lara, lets fuck."

"Damn it, Zoa!" Lara pulled away and punched him in his stomach. He just pulled back, out of her reach and let go of her hip.

"Ah you know you like it, let me bite you again," he smiled and licked his lips. Lara glared at him and asked,

"Zoa, why are you doing this to me?"

"Why?" He turned back into his real self, "why? Lara, you fucking murdered me and now you're cheating on me."

"_You_ cheated on _me_!" Lara pointed at him and never felt so angry in her life. Zoa rolled his eyes and took a step over to her,

"You lying little whore," Zoa snapped at her and grabbed the upper part of her arm.

"Don't touch me, and I'm not a whore, you're the one who cheated on me and tried to abuse me, remember?" Lara pulled away and took a step back.

"I never cheated on y-"

"Yes you did! I saw you in bed with her!" Lara pushed on him and felt the pain shoot up her arms. "So I had a reason to kill you, you piece of shit!" She continued.

Zoa snarled down at her and grabbed her by her hair, twisting around, he pulled her along. With a punch to the back of his leg, he fell backwards and Lara was able to get away. She stood but stumbled backwards, the environment changed around them again.

This time, they were both floating in the room where her body was sleeping. She studied herself and saw she was sweating constantly and twitching in her sleep, beside her was Bakura who was arguing with the old woman who still wouldn't let him help her.

The old woman shook her head and didn't take her eyes off Lara as she placed a damped rag on the top of her forehead.

"She needs to do this on her own," the woman said and shushed him by placing her index finger on her lips. Which worked, Lara made a mental note to herself on using that trick to shut him up next time.

She took her eyes off the real world and saw Zoa studying Bakura, by his stance she could tell he was angered. She placed her hands on her hip and shifted her weight to her stronger leg.

"Zoa," she said firmly, he looked over at her and looked more tired than he did before. "You need to leave," Lara told him and nodded. Zoa stood up straight and replied,

"I don't want to leave, not this world and not you."

"You have too, you are making both of us miserable, can't you see that?" Lara shook her head and cursed under her breath.

Zoa then walked over quickly and grabbed both of her upper arms, they looked at each other coldly in each others eyes as he replied,

"You belong to me and you always will, but after what you have done to me I will see to it you are never happy with another man again."

She pulled away and swung her right fist forward, hitting him in his nose. He shouted in pain and stumbled backwards, she saw that her body was twitching in the real world. Bakura grew nervous and began to bug the old woman again.

The old woman sighed and gave in, she began to mix a few herbs and said,

"In order for you to enter her mind, she must think of you and only you." He nodded and leaned his back against the wall next to Lara, quickly grabbing the bowl from the old woman. After he drank it, Lara turned to Zoa and began to think of Bakura,

"Lara!" Zoa shouted, interrupting her thinking. She cursed and tried to run, though she was limping she tried to get away. The environment changed again, turning back into darkness with white orbs flying by.

She felt a strong grip on her shoulder and turned around to see Zoa glaring down at her, she pulled away and began to throw punches again. Zoa blocked one of her punches and swung one of his own, hitting her in the jaw. She swirled around and fell to the ground, holding her jaw and cursing wildly.

She kept moving however, jumping to her feet and trying to imagine Bakura with her. Soon as she tries to think about him, Zoa calls out her names and charges her. He tackles her to the ground and grabs her by her throat.

"Don't worry, I'll be right behind you," he said as he forced his grip onto her. She reaches up and begins to claw at his face, breathing roughly, she tried to get Bakura there with her.

Thinking of him long enough, Zoa was tackled off her and she could finally breath. She quickly jumps to her feet and looks over to see Bakura without his robe fighting with Zoa. Lara quickly sprints over to them and grabs Zoa hand that was grabbing Bakura's fluffy hair.

"Zoa, fuck!" Lara twisted his wrists and forces it back. Bakura sits up and was forcing Zoa's head to the ground, he looks up at Lara and asks,

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lara nodded and then said, "he won't leave, clearly."

"Just have to kill him in your mind, it's the only way to force him over," Bakura said.

"Then kill him," Lara smiled and nudged him.

"You have too, this is your mind," Bakura said and kept his knee into Zoa's chest.

"You can never fully kill me, there will always be a little bit of me left!" Zoa snarled and tired to move but couldn't.

Lara sighed heavily and placed her hands on the side of Zoa's head, with a swift twist followed by a loud crack, Zoa went rag doll. Bakura stood and took a deep sigh, followed by Lara who quickly wrapped her arms around him. After pulling away she said,

"See? Not crazy…"

Waking up in a pool of sweat, the feeling of being stalked was gone. She quickly sat up to see Bakura putting his robe back on. Acting like nothing happened, his expression was blank as normal. The old woman was standing as well, mixing more herbs, she smiled down at Lara and welcomed her back.

"T-thanks…," Lara rubbed her head and whipped the sweat off her forehead. Bakura helped her up with no expression on her face, "glad to see you made it too," Lara rolled her eyes and twisted her back.

"Too make sure he is fully gone, you must go to the Temple of Anubis, there the god of death will assure your stalker's place in the afterlife…," the old woman said with a confident smile.

"Do you know where that's at, Bakura?" Lara looked up at him, he nodded and rubbed his eyes. "Are you okay?" Lara rubbed her wrists softly,

"Been better," Bakura finally spoke and gave her a weak smile.

"For your injuries, I have these mixes to help," the old woman smiled and handed her and Bakura a bowl.

"I don't need anything," Bakura handed the bowl back to her and turned to Lara, "whenever you're ready to go."

After an hour of resting, Lara felt it was best to get to the Temple of Anubis as quickly as possible, Bakura carried her on his back until they found their horses at their hotel. Lara still didn't feel fully together, nor that everything was set right, but she figured once they get to the temple everything should be fine…


	22. Chapter 22

Man I am so sorry for taking so long to update.

Bakura placed her by her horse and walked over to his without a word. Lara stood there and studied him closely, she felt it was odd for him to the be that quiet. Bakura looked over at her, his eyes to her were normal, but something was off.

"You okay?" Bakura finally spoke.

His deep voice made her jump and yet relieved her.

"Yeah, lets just get this over with…I would really like to get back to my hobby…," Lara smiled weakly and tried to pull herself onto her horse.

Bakura walked over to her and pushed her up onto the large horse, once again squeezing her butt. She waved his hand away and tried to hide her smile. She noticed he didn't smile, not even a smug. Which caused her to ask,

"Are _you_ okay?"

"I am worn out," Bakura chuckled as he swung his leg over his horse.

"Do you want to rest some more?" Lara kept her horse at bay.

Bakura looked down at his hands and thought about it for a moment. He then nodded and replied,

"If we can."

Lara slowly nodded,

"Yeah, but if I feel we need to go-"

"Then we will," Bakura said and jumped back off the horse.

"Okay," Lara jumped off her own horse and felt the pain shoot through her leg.

She tried to mask her pain but knew Bakura picked up on it. He just snickered as she waited for a smart comment. Lara stood up straight and fixed her outfit, Bakura just rolled his eyes and walked into the hotel. He waited for her by the entrance with his arms crossed. Lara kept her pain hidden as she tried to walk normally over to him.

"Whatever," Bakura shook his head with a smile and continued to walk into the hotel.

Lara truly figured Bakura wouldn't leave her alone once they reached their room. Instead, he just took off his coat and covered himself up in the large bed. Lara fixed the coat that he had thrown on the bed before she crawled up beside him. On top of the covers, she looked down at him as he kept his eyes closed and his back to her.

With a light sigh, she rested her back against the wall and closed her eyes. She realized her body shook from the constant stress. She wondered how Bakura could just sleep after everything that has happened. In a way, she was a little upset that he could just fall asleep and she couldn't because of the stress.

"Bakura…," Lara turned to him.

"Hm?"

"After we go to the temple, where do we go from there?"

"…Where ever I guess, actually there's this tomb we need to hit…then where ever…," Bakura looked over his shoulder to see her look down at him.

Lara sighed, she didn't want to tell him but she began to grow bored of the constant stealing. She placed her hand under her chin and stared off into the room. Bakura laid on his back with both of his hands under the pillow.

"What's up?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing, just thinking," Lara shrugged her shoulders.

"That's not good for you," he said with a smug smile as he closed his eyes.

Lara rolled her eyes and tried not to smile. She twisted side to side and popped her back, she looked back over at Bakura and studied him. She smiled slowly and pulled the covers over her legs. The bed was already warm as she laid her head on his arm.

She looked up at the ceiling and said,

"I want a huge project after we're done going to the Temple."

Bakura just smiled and replied,

"We can probable find one…"

"What do you mean?" Lara asked.

"We'll find a huge project after we go to the Temple," Bakura shrugged his shoulders.

"Good, I get bored easily," Lara chuckled.

"Don't worry, we will," Bakura just sighed.

Lara nodded and was about to ask another question until she heard him snore. She rolled her eyes and closed them. It only took a few minutes before she slowly began to fall asleep, suddenly her body went numb. She wasn't asleep but she wasn't awake either, she tried to move around but felt she moved around slowly. She tried to force herself awake, but she couldn't, she couldn't tell if she really was but it felt she moved her hand and tried to force her eye open.

She tried to call out to Bakura but she had no voice, she continued to move around and tried to force her eyes open. A tingly feel shot through her body, panic began to grow as she was in darkness with no feeling in her body.

_What's going on? Why can't I move?_ She asked herself.

"Lara!" Bakura jerked her awake.

"What?" Lara shot up.

"Move over," Bakura pushed her to the other side of the bed.

Lara looked down at him as the ability to feel slowly returned.

"What?" He asked.

"My whole body numb it felt like," Lara sighed as she laid back down.

"I see, move over," Bakura pushed on her a little.

"You have plenty of room," she slapped his arm and took a deep sigh.

"That was weird," she added.

"Probable too tired and it did that, or something…I don't know, go to sleep," Bakura spooned her.

"I'm kind of scarred too…," Lara said.

"You'll be okay," Bakura said as if it was nothing.

"Easy for you to say…," Lara mumbled.

He didn't reply and began to snore. Lara just sighed as she debated on whether to go back to sleep. Her eyes slowly closed but this she actually dreamed.

She stood there in the middle of a burned down town alone.

_And here we go with the nightmares…_ Lara growled as she slowly began to walk around.


	23. Chapter 23

Lara rubbed her forehead while she walked down the empty street. She knew she was dreaming, but had no way of getting out. There was something different about this dream however, she was too aware, and she could swear she could feel the gentle breeze. She could even feel the pain shoot through her leg and the pain in her hand.

She looked around, but saw nothing living. With a sigh, she stopped and sat on a large stone.

_Really? Man I wish I can wake up…_

"So what's this project?"

Lara looked up to see Aiza smiling down at her.

"I just want to travel, far though, I heard there are places that don't have sand," Lara replied with a smile.

"That would be cool, you sure Bakura will be okay with it?" Aiza sat beside her.

"I don't know really, so…are you okay?" Lara turned to her.

"Yeah, being dead isn't all that bad; I decided to stay with you though. Watch over you," Aiza smiled.

"Aw thanks, so, is…she dead?"

"I looked for her, but I didn't see her. While you travel, can you look for her?"

"Yeah, of course," Lara patted Aiza's hand.

"So, when did you decide to stay with me?" She asked.

"Just now, long ass line to the front, then all this stuff out to figure out," Aiza chuckled.

"Maybe you can protect me from…never mind," Lara shook her head.

"I already know who, I saw him before I came back."

"How?"

"He…showed up, but I heard he's too powerful to stay, I would hurry to that temple," Aiza turned to her.

"We will, don't worry," Lara smiled.

"You better wake up then, there's no time to lose," Aiza kissed her cheek and fade away.

Lara took a deep breath and smiled, to see Aiza again made her day; she looked over at Bakura who faced her with his hand on her stomach.

"Bakura, wake up," she shoved on his shoulder.

"What?"

"We need to go, now," Lara pushed his hand off and jumped out of bed.

"But I paid for the night…," he pulled the blanket over him.

She grabbed his coat and climbed on top of him. She pushed him onto his back, pulled down the blanket, and kissed his forehead.

"Come on," she sat up and placed his coat on top of him.

"Meh," he hid his face in his coat.

"Fine, I'll go without you, meet a nice man who will help me, then go explore the world," she jumped off him.

"Send him my love," Bakura mumbled.

Lara grabbed her coat and made her way down the stairs, outside and onto her horse.

_Is he not coming?_ Aiza asked in Lara's mind.

"Just wait," Lara smiled and took off.

Outside of town, she stopped the horse and crossed her arms.

_I don't think he's coming_ said Aiza.

A few minutes went by, soon half an hour. Lara shrugged her shoulders and took off into the desert.

"Would you hold on!"

Lara stopped her horse and smiled. Bakura joined her moments later, his coat barely on and his hair a total mess. Lara moved her horse closer to his and kissed him; he growled in annoyance but kissed her back. She tried to pull away but he pulled her back in for another kiss, he slipped in his tongue and almost pulled her onto his horse.

_Ew…_ Aiza turned away.

Lara ignored her and kissed him back, although nervous, she did her best as he pulled her onto his horse. He held on to her waist as she wrapped her arms around his shoulder. He pulled away then began to kiss her neck; he carefully kissed the spot where he bit her to hard.

"We need to go," she mumbled.

He kissed her collarbone and pulled her legs over his.

"Alright, alright, let's go," Lara scooted back and reached for her horse.

He continued to kiss her collarbone and kept his arms around her. He kept her in place and pulled the strap out of her hand. He began to bite her again, harder and harder until he hit the same spot and bit down.

"Damn it!" She pushed him away and covered the mark with her hand.

He grabbed her wrists and smiled down at her.

"You like it," he told her.

She smiled and let him kiss her.

"Admit it," he squeezed her wrists.

"Nah, that'll spoil the fun. Let's go."

He slowly let her go but played with her skirt. She kissed him one more time before she grabbed the horse and awkwardly climbed over to it.

"Fine, but next hotel…," he smiled at her devilishly.

"Yeah, yeah, let's get this damn thing over with."


	24. Chapter 24

NOTE: So sorry it has been so long! I actually have a part-time job and going to school fulltime, but, I can still feel the love for this story and so I will continue this on as long as I can. I am also working on actual stories in hopes for publication, just been busy hehe. Love you all!

This will be short because I just got home from work and need to go to bed, but I wanted to give you all something for being awesome!

The sun was barely over the horizon. The desert became unbearable hot already as Lara and Bakura continue to ride towards the next town. Miles away from the Temple; Lara was tired, could hardly keep herself away. They were hours into their trip, even Bakura felt his body weaken and his mind going into a haze. The two, plus Aiza, knew they were going to have to stop at the next town. Dehydration increased rapidly after the rays of the sun beamed down.

Bakura was close beside her; he huffed and grumbled, "Whose fucking idea was this?"

A sigh slipped from Lara's dried lips. "At least we're a town closer…we can stop here for the day, keep going at night…" Lara could feel his eyes on her, though she couldn't tell if his stare was a sigh of relief, or death was certain for her. She knew she pushed him to the limits, she even pushed herself, Aiza told her multiple times over the hours how proud she was of her but told her to stop at the next town for rest. When Bakura's stare didn't seem to fade, Lara looked over at him and snapped, "What?"

"Nothing. Calm down." He rolled his eyes then turned ahead.

"Got something to say?"

Bakura cocked a brow. In hopes it was just her being tired causing her snapping attitude, he shrugged. "Nope, just tired."

_Lara, you're tired and so is he, he's not being mean or anything._

_I know Aiza, we're going to rest. If we can make it before I kill him…_

"I am too." She placed his hand on his shoulder. "We can sleep-in all day and order a huge meal at a restaurant, how about that?"

"You know that plan is missing something, right?" He asked with a smug.

Lara rolled her eyes. Usually she would have a good, witty comeback, but the tiredness took the ability away. "We'll see."

_How can they always find the energy? _Aiza asked.

_Who knows…_

Lara let her hand slide down his arm, feeling the curve and firmness of his muscles. The corners of her lips curled, she looked at her horse and placed her hand back in her lap. With red cheeks, she pulled her hood over her eyes as they approached the city.

The city was massive in size. The population overwhelmed Lara and her horse. Bakura took lead; Lara followed close behind until they arrived to a hotel. The hotel was also large, nothing Lara has seen before. However, to Bakura, it was just another hotel. After they squeezed through the crowd of people, Bakura helped her off her horse and tied the two to a post.

"I'm sorry sir, but we're full," the main said at the counter.

Before they knew it, it was a chain reaction of the same reply at every hotel. They found themselves in the back alley, huddle together under his coat. The shadows from the buildings cooled them enough, but the beads of sweat rolled down both of their faces. Lara was always a cover person; she suffered through the heat just to have false-security with Bakura's coat.

Bakura was already asleep, which shocked Lara, though the sleep brought him no comfort as his nightmares turned from bad to worse.

_He stood by himself, he was use to the nightmare starting that way, in a burned down town. It wasn't the same one that he and Lara were at before; it wasn't even his hometown, which put him on edge as he walked down the main street…_


	25. Chapter 25

_A gust of wind rolled under Bakura's coat. It was cooler than normal as it raised goose bumps on his skin. He then realized, he could feel. As he wandered down the street, a sense of dread rushed through his veins. He wasn't use to the since of dread, only causing it. There was no sign of life, not a single life form made its presence known._

"_Lara!" he called out. There was no answer, which sent a shiver down his spine. "Lara! A hideous growl answered; he spun around, there stood Lara, covered in blood from head to toe. Her red eyes locked on him, he knew it wasn't she. "Shit." _

_He took off down the street and heard quick, but heavy foot steps follow behind him. His speed slowed down, he tried with all his might to speed up and yet knew she was right behind him. He stopped and turned around to watch Lara slow down to a halt. _

"_Bakura, why were you running from me?" she asked sweetly. _

_Bakura smirked. "I knew you never left, Zoa."_

_Lara gracefully walked over to him, placed her hand on his chest, and kissed his neck. "I don't know what you're talking about…"_

_Bakura placed his palm on her collarbone and shoved her away. "Nice try." _

_Lara stumbled back and fell to the ground. She squeaked in pain and looked down at her hand. "That hurt…" She jumped to her feet with ease and lunged for him. His back landed hard on the ground and he could feel the pressure on his neck. "You'll fucking burn for this!" she barked in a hellish voice. _

_Without a word, Bakura grabbed her hand and forced it off his throat. He pushed her off and climbed to his feet. She swung for him without a warning; he grabbed her wrist and squeezed it with all his strength. Lara's kneeled crippled from the pain, she gazed up at him with her soft blue eyes. "Why are you doing this?" she whimpered. _

"_You're not her!"_

_Tears rolled down her cheeks. "Bakura? Stop you're hurting me!" _

"Bakura!" Lara slapped him across his face then pulled away. She jumped to her feet only to stumble backwards to the ground. She held her reddened wrist against her chest as Bakura slowly came to.

His eyes went from hazy to clear as he peered over to her. "What happened?" he grumbled and rubbed his head, looking down at the ground to see it shifting, though he knew it was just his vision. When she didn't reply, he glanced at her. Tears rolled down her face; he could see her reddened wrist lying against her breasts. "Are you okay?" he jumped to his feet and extended his hand.

"I…yeah…," she sighed and grabbed his hand.

"What, I, what was I doing?"

She tried not to scream, but he could hear the stress. "I don't know. You just grabbed me and wouldn't let go." He wrapped his arms around her without a word. Slowly Lara placed her hands on his shoulder blades and huffed. "I'm okay."

Bakura didn't want to tell her that Zoa was invading his dreams. _Then how else could I explain the sudden violence?_ "He's back," he forced himself to say.

"I figured."

_Lara we need to get going soon, this is getting bad_, Aiza said.

"Can't we find another priest to help at least slow him down?" Lara asked.

Bakura pulled away. "Umm…" he rubbed the back of his neck, trying to remember if there was such a person nearby. "I don't know." He looked down at her, clearly it wasn't the answer she wanted.

_Why won't he leave? This is getting stupid…_ Aiza sighed.

_No shit…_

"If there is someone, they'll be hiding in the back allies. The ones we need at least," Bakura said.

Lara still didn't like his answer but knew he was trying. She looked over her shoulder to see a large temple. "The overseer of this city probably lives there, if not, someone very wealthy, which means someone there's at least a priest. Let's go there."

Bakura glanced pass her to see the large building. "I don't want to deal with them; we can find someone on our level."

"I want a real priest, not someone you just happen to know…come one." Lara turned to leave.

"Lara…fuck…," he huffed and followed her.

_Why is he freaking?_ Aiza questioned.

_Honestly, I don't know, you'd think he'd want to go for the stealing…_

Lara pulled her hood over her eyes and grabbed Bakura's hand. With little strength she had left, she guided him through the crowd and towards the source of obvious wealth.


	26. Chapter 26

The guards of the temple were shocked to see the tone of Lara's skin. Lara kept the edge of the hood over her eyes and her arms crossed. "Is there a priest here?" she asked.

"Who wants to know?"

"I do, and believe me, you're going to want me to see him or her," Lara replied in a stern voice.

The two men looked pass Lara to see Bakura with his arms also crossed. They knew who he was; the scar on his face was his signature mark. "He stays here, but you can come in," one guard said.

"He has to come with as well, he's part of this…drama we're having with an evil spirit," Lara explained.

The two men looked at each other. "I'll go ask; you stay here and watch them."

"Fine." The man turned to the two thieves. "If he says no, it's probably because of who you two are."

"We understand, but this is serious."

They then stood in silence. Minutes felt like hours as the wind gently brushed against their skin. Bakura studied the building and wondered if there was an easy escape route. He glanced down at Lara when she patted his arm. Under the hood, he could see her smiling. He huffed and rolled his eyes.

Lara sighed then rolled hers; the man before them kept his eyes fixed on the two, still couldn't believe whom he was seeing.

Finally, a priest and the guard arrived. The priest was older but appeared to be wiser than the last one the two met. The wrinkled-covered man smiled and asked, "What is wrong?"

"My boyfriend and I are in need of your help, there is an evil spirit haunting us. He won't let us be, please, we need your help," Lara said.

The man looked at the two. A smile spread across his face as he placed his hand on Lara's shoulder. "Come with me."

The two followed the priest into the temple. Lara turned to Bakura and said, "Don't even think about it."

"Whatever…"

"So tell me about this spirit."

"He's my ex; I…killed him long ago. He never left however, and now he wants to kill us both."

The man nodded. "How powerful is he?"

"Well, he can invade our dreams, cause us to feel in them…can hurt us…he's very powerful."

"I see, so he must be associated with Seth in someway…"

"I have a friend spirit who said she hasn't seem him be confronted by Osiris, I don't know how he passed them, if he did."

Bakura grabbed Lara's hand. "So can you help us?" he asked almost sourly.

"Of course I can," the priest nodded and led them to a large room filled with artifacts, religious symbols, and herbs. In the middle was a large rug surrounded by bowls and pieces of wood in vases. The man grinned and said, "Lie down there, we will begin here shortly."


End file.
